


Catch & Release

by lscar123



Series: Forever & Always [2]
Category: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Genre: Angst, Gay Sex, M/M, Murder, Serial Killers, Sex, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-25
Packaged: 2018-09-17 17:29:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 79,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9335213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lscar123/pseuds/lscar123
Summary: As Ty and Zane spend Christmas together in Bluefield, pondering the idea of starting their own family, they get a call they never expected to get. Two bodies have been found at the Delaware Wedge, the tri-state marker for Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. As a terrifying realization sets in that events from their past they thought they had left behind are happening again Ty and Zane must work with old and new friends to catch a copycat. The Tri-State Killer has returned and he only has one thing on this mind. Revenge.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Forever & Always #2! 
> 
> First, the song in this chapter is linked in the story itself. It's one that I thought of instantly when I first read the series and I was dying to use it . 
> 
> I've had this idea kicking around in my head for months and I'm very pleased how it's turning out. I wanted to wait a little longer to release it but the first few chapters have been burning a hole in my computer just sitting there. The response to Forever & Always gave me such great motivation and I hope you guys like this one just as much! I look forward to your comments and feedback!

 

 

 

 

 

Beginning

Chapter 1

 

The sun was blazing hot as Zane lay on the white sandy beach. It was all a blur, one minute he was in his hotel room and the next he was face down in the sand. He stood up and instantly became dizzy with the familiar feeling of expensive alcohol buzzing through his system. He looked out at the ocean in front of him, marveling as it stretched on and on for miles into the horizon. He took one step forward to steady himself as he swayed with the breeze like the palm trees over head. His head darted around the scenery looking for some identifiable feature or landmark to give him an idea of where he was.

His eyes caught a sign in the distance: _“The finest in all of the Sunshine State”_

Sunshine State? His brain was working overtime. How the fuck did he end up in Florida when he was in his hotel room with Ty in Boston just a few hours ago? His head began to spin again. How the fuck was he so drunk? He hadn't taken a sip of alcohol since New Orleans and that was years ago. He stood for long minutes, his world spinning around him, until he heard the faint sound of [music playing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FY0mQpttlM) from somewhere far away, it was a low and tinny sound as if it was being played from a large speaker in the distance.

 

_White lines, pretty baby, tattoos_   
_Don't know what they mean_   
_They're special, just for you_   
_White palms, baking powder on the stove_   
_Cooking up a dream, turning diamonds into snow_

 

He saw a figure in the distance walking towards him, a man with an open shirt billowing in the wind. He looked familiar but Zane was unable to place him from this far away. Zane took a few staggered steps forward before welcoming the shadow with a smile, it was Ty. Every time Zane took a step forward Ty stopped, if Zane stopped moving then Ty would begin walking, Zane resolved to be the one to move and kept lumbering forward as Ty was frozen into place. The music still played behind him as if it was stalking him like a wild animal hunting it's prey.

 

_I feel you, pretty baby, feel me_   
_Turn it up hot, loving you is free_   
_I like it down, like it down way low_   
_But you already know that_   
_You already know_

 

When Zane finally reached Ty's still body he looked on in horror as he saw his husband covered in blood from head to toe. Ty's face was expressionless, he didn't move, he didn't speak, he didn't even blink.

“Ty?” Zane asked softly with no response.

“Ty! Answer me! What happened? Why are we here? Why are you covered in blood?” Zane frantically reached out for Ty and froze when he saw his own hands. He was covered in blood too, his forearms dripping a thick red substance.

“Why did you do it, Zane?” Ty rasped.

“Do what, Ty?” Zane yelled.

“Why did you hurt me? I love you so much, why would you do this too me?” Ty frowned, pulling one of Zane's knives out of his chest that Zane swore wasn't there before.

Zane was frozen and unable to speak, he pulled Ty in for a hug before another knife materialized in his hand and he drove it into Ty, repeatedly, as Ty stood motionless with his blood pouring over the white sand. The music swelled as Ty dropped to his knees and Zane brought his hand to his face, running his tongue across his bloody hand and tasting the metallic notes of Ty's own blood.

 

_Come on down to Florida_   
_I got something for ya_   
_We could see the kilos or the keys, baby, oh ya_   
_Guns in the summertime_   
_Drink a Cherry Cola lime_   
_Prison isn't nothing to me if you'll be by my side_

 

~*~

 

Zane shot up in the bed with a strangled scream, reflexively reaching for a weapon he no longer slept with. He could feel his entire body slick with sweat and taste the salty tears as they fell down his face to the corners of his mouth. He was frantic, gasping for air, clutching for any available surface to anchor himself.

Ty was up almost immediately at the sound of the scream, panicked and unsure of what was happening.

“Zane?” Ty asked, worried, “Zane? What's wrong?”

“Where am I?” Zane asked frantically.

“You're with me, here in Bluefield.” Ty said calmly.

Zane looked around the room and felt his breathing slow, he recognized the familiar walls of Ty's childhood bedroom and their old queen bed from the row house below him. His pulse slowly began to return to normal as he came back down to earth.

“Sorry.” Zane rasped, his voice hoarse from screaming.

“It's OK,” Ty soothed him, “what happened?”

Zane was about to reply but was cut off from a knock on the door.

“Is everything OK?” Mara asked softly from the other side of the door.

Zane sighed and got out of bed, opening the door to meet his mother-in-law.

“Yeah, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake the entire house. Nightmare.” He said flatly.

“Figured it was Ty, didn't think it would be you sweetheart. Anything I can do?” Mara asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.

“No,” Zane sighed, “I'll survive. Thank you for offering though. I'll try not to wake you again.”

“Just be glad it was me at this door and not Chester with his shovel.” She smiled and pulled his head down to kiss him on the forehead. It was moments like these that Mara felt like a true mother to him and not just an in-law.

Zane closed the door and turned back towards Ty who was sitting patiently, legs crossed, in the bed waiting for him. Zane crawled back onto the bed, laying on his side and pulling as close to Ty as was possible.

“Wanna talk about it?” Ty asked softly.

“Mhm.” Zane sighed.

Ty didn't speak, Zane knew he was trying to let him divulge whatever it was he wanted to say at his own pace.

“I killed you.” Zane said.

“What?” Ty laughed.

“We were on this beach in Florida, and I walked over to you, you were covered in blood and you asked me why I did it to you, and I hugged you and stabbed you over and over again. It was terrible.” Zane said, starting to cry again.

“Sure you're not mad at me about something I don't know?” Ty smiled.

“It's not funny, Ty. It was terrible. I can still see it in my head as clear as day.” Zane sighed.

“Well, I'm still here. You can't get rid of me that easily. Besides, we both know I wouldn't go down without a fight.” Ty smiled, kissing Zane on the top of the head.

“Seeing myself hurt you like that...even thought it was a dream...it was terrible.” Zane frowned.

“I know, baby. But it was just a nightmare, it's not gonna happen.” Ty said, pulling him closer and beginning to softly sing to him.

It was the only thing that could calm Zane on nights like this now, he'd been having a harder time than he'd first thought with his mothers death and the subsequent information that came out about her afterwards. He'd been having terrible nightmares a lot over the past few months but this was the first one that resulted in the death of someone he loved with his own hands. He closed his eyes and tried to push the thoughts out of his brain as he concentrated on Ty's soft singing voice and the rocking motion he was being pulled into. The longer he listened the more and more he drifted off back to sleep until he was finally out.

 

~*~

 

Ty woke a few hours later to the biting cold nipping at his feet. It had been seven months since they spent his birthday in Texas during the name change of the ranch and now feeling the cold December air of West Virginia he would welcome the Texas heat with open arms if someone gave him the option.  He laid motionless in the bed, not willing to disturb Zane who needed as much sleep as he could get after last night. He got lost in his thoughts as he pondered his next move. This isn't the first nightmare Zane had awoken from with a scream, it had been a recurring issue over the last few months. He knew that he hadn't fully dealt with his mothers death and his emotions were swirling around him like a maelstrom. He knew he'd started to see a new therapist in the city, someone who was closer and more available for a face to face session rather than Deuce. Zane had told him it was easier to talk about Beverly to someone who had zero connection to her and didn't already know about their past. It made sense to Ty. Even if Deuce remained impartial Zane would always have it in the back of his head that he knew Beverly and wonder if what he was saying was clouded by that. Ty was surprised with how well Deuce had taken it, then again what did he expect? For Deuce to have a temper tantrum because he was being replaced? That would never happen. And he knew they still talked about other things, it just so happened that Zane's issues with Beverly were so deeply rooted that he needed an entirely separate person just dedicated to her. Regardless of who he was talking to Ty was still happily surprised how much Zane shared with him about his sessions, he never wanted to poke or prod but Zane was always willing to share. He made a quick mental comparison to the man he was with when they first came to Bluefield years ago, the one who was having such a hard time with therapists that he almost got kicked out of the FBI, to the one who slept next to him now who now had two to help him whenever he needed it. He smiled at the thought as Zane moved next to him.

“Morning, stud.” Zane's voice rasped next to him.

“Look who's talking.” Ty smiled and pulled himself closer for a kiss.

“It's fucking cold.” Zane sighed.

“The old bed had it's perks, we had to sleep on top of each other so we were always warm.” Ty laughed.

“This one has it's perks too, doesn't creak every time we have sex.” Zane winked.

“Fair trade, I suppose.” Ty laughed.

“Merry Christmas Eve.” Zane smiled.

“Merry Christmas Eve, baby.” Ty said, rolling in closer to give him yet another kiss.

They were both stirred out of bed at the smell of breakfast wafting up from the kitchen. Zane's stomach growled in anticipation.

“Time to feed the beast.” Ty laughed, throwing the covers off them and wincing at the cold air that hit his body as he pulled on his sweats and threw Zane his pair.

 

~*~

 

Zane had to stop and laugh at the madness of the kitchen as he rounded the corner from the stairs. Mara was shuffling around trying to make the most extravagant breakfast he'd ever seen her make. She was covered in flower and eggs, Earl was standing behind her with a broom trying to clean the excess flower of the floor, and Chester sat at the table laughing and pointing with his shovel.

“What happened here?” Zane laughed.

“Damn dog ran under foot when I had a bag of flour in my hand,” Mara huffed, “tired to steady myself on the counter and knocked the egg carton into the air and pelted myself with them.”

“Can I do anything to help?” Zane asked.

“Could you be a dear and run to the grocery right quick and get me two dozen more eggs?” She pleaded.

“Sure,” Zane smiled, “let me go find Ty so I don't get lost.”

“Afraid I already got Ty locked into another project.” Earl grinned.

“OK...” Zane hesitated, he didn't know nearly enough about the area to either not get lost or drive himself off of the mountainside.

“Why don't you take Deuce?” Mara said.

“Take Deuce what?” Deuce replied from behind them with a raised eyebrow.

“Store. Lost all the eggs in a tragic...eggcident” Zane grinned.

Ty came up behind him and flicked him on the back of the head.

“Bad pun penalty, Garrett.”

Zane just sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

“Someone needs to come with me so I don't get lost.” Zane protested.

“I'll go,” Deuce laughed, “give me a few minutes to put something decent on and tell Livi and Amelia.”

A few minutes passed and they were in the car on the hunt for some new eggs. Zane could feel Deuce studying him out of the corner of his eye as he drove.

“Ask.” Zane rolled his eyes.

“What was all the commotion last night? Wasn't the kind of screaming I expected to hear from that room.” Deuce teased.

“I will stop and push you over the cliff.” Zane warned.

“Easy cowboy, just trying to make light.” Deuce backed off.

“Sorry. Stressful night. I had a nightmare that I killed Ty.” Zane let out a long compressed breath.

“And what do you think that means?” Deuce questioned.

“Aren't you supposed to tell me that, doc?” Zane rolled his eyes.

“Well,” Deuce started, “from an emotional standpoint dreams about killing someone can be looked at as your subconscious releasing feelings of repressed anger towards the person you kill. Any repressed anger at Ty?”

“Not at all. We barely fight anymore and when we do it's about stupid stuff like him not stocking books in the correct place because he doesn't agree with their genera classification.” Zane sighed.

“OK,” Deuce mused, “another interpretation is that you have repressed anger at yourself and you're dreaming of killing the one person you love most in the world as punishment for being angry at yourself.”

“I'm no more angry at myself than I usually am.” Zane laughed.

“Well, the last way to look at it is that it was just a random nightmare and that it's stupid to read more into it unless it reoccurs. Have you ever dreamed of killing Ty before?” Deuce asked.

“Never,” Zane sighed, “I've dreamed of him dying and me not being able to save him but I've never been the one who hurt him.”

“Hmm.” Deuce said quietly.

“What?” Zane asked.

“I know you have your own person for this but could I venture into the Beverly of it all for a moment?” Deuce asked.

“Sure.” Zane sighed.

“OK, you've been working with this new guy for three months or so now, correct? One of the biggest contentions with your mother was your relationship with Ty. Regardless of how accepting she ended up being or the circumstances around why she didn't like him, as valid as they may have been in retrospect, you still spent years of your life angry at her for not liking Ty. As you're digging deeper into your relationship with your mother...or lack there of...it's possible that your dream of killing Ty was a subconscious way to try and apologize to your mother.” Deuce let out a breath.

“Does that make me a terrible person?” Zane frowned.

“Not at all, it doesn't mean you want to actually kill Ty or that you don't want to be with him. It just means that your mother fucked you up. It's a little Oedipus Rex.” Deuce laughed.

“Thanks.” Zane huffed.

“Remind me again why you're paying some new guy to go sit on his couch and talk to him when you have me?” Deuce joked.

“Because you're my brother-in-law and I don't want to constantly have to blur the lines of our relationship in the family, especially when it comes to my mother.” Zane sighed.

“I know, I get it. Just know that I'm always here for you, brother.” Deuce smiled, resting his hand on Zane's shoulder for a moment.

 

~*~

 

Ty sat on the back porch with his father waiting for either of them to gather up enough energy to get started on their project.

“Everything OK with Zane?” Earl asked.

“He's been having these really intense nightmares for the last few months, a lot of repressed stuff from his childhood with Beverly is eating at him.” Ty frowned.

“Sounds rough.” Earl sighed.

“Yeah. We pretty much take turns waking up in panic and terror now. He has his nightmares, I have mine still, we just try to be there for each other.” Ty shrugged.

“At least you have each other.” Earl smiled.

“Don't know what either of us would honestly do if we didn't.” Ty agreed.

“It's not taking a toll on the relationship is it?” Earl asked.

“Not at all,” Ty smiled, “it only rears its head at night. Zane has Deuce and the new therapist he's been seeing, and we talk to each other about everything so there's nothing bottled up. It's gotten a lot better, used to be every night he'd wake up screaming but last night was the first in a week or so.”

“Mountain air will do the boy some good.” Earl laughed.

“Last time I thought that I ended up getting attacked by a mountain lion.” Ty rolled his eyes.

“Well, all you've got to worry about today is this ax.” Earl smiled, producing an ax from his left side.

“Do we really have to do this now?” Ty complained.

“She wants all the firewood cut up for the bonfire tonight, it's now or never.” Earl sighed as he stood, using the railing to pull himself up.

“Zane gets to go shopping and I get to do manual labor. So unfair.” Ty whined.

“Suck it up, boy.” Earl said, patting him on the back.

 

~*~

 

Zane and Deuce returned from the store almost an hour after they'd left. They still managed to get lost even with Deuce giving directions.

“What on earth took you boys so long?” Mara scolded them as they walked in the door.

“Blame Deuce,” Zane said, holding his arms up in defeat, “he got me lost!”

“How on earth did you manage to get lost? You grew up here!” Mara gasped.

“I wasn't paying attention and I told him to make a left instead of a right and we drove for like 20 miles before I realized it was the wrong way.” Deuce sighed.

“How many grown men does it take to get two cartons of eggs, I swear.” Mara muttered, taking the eggs from them and turning back to the kitchen. As she turned away Zane started his search for Ty.

He could hear the rhythmic thunk of an ax hitting wood coming from the back of the house and assumed that is where Ty would be. We walked through the kitchen and stood at the back screen door, watching from a distance as Ty swung the ax up and down, chopping piece after piece of the wood. He studied him for a moment, watching his arms flex and sinuous muscles move beneath the skin, and smiled. He loved watching Ty in his natural habitat. Even after all the years they'd been together he still appreciated every secret moment like this.

“You gonna stare or you gonna do something about it?” Chester's sarcastic tone broke Zane's thoughts.

“Hi to you too, Chester.” Zane smiled as Chester waved him off.

Zane stepped through the back door and walked over to meet Ty's gaze.

“I'm here to see a man about some wood.” Zane winked.

“Sorry, we're closed for the holidays, come back after the new year.” Ty smiled, driving the ax into the old stump and leaving it there. He walked over to Zane and pulled him into a sweaty embrace.

“Don't know how it can be this fucking cold and I'm still this sweaty.” Ty sighed.

“Can't say I mind it.” Zane smiled.

“Pig.” Ty rolled his eyes.

“Beaumont,” Mara called from the window, “you get your behind in here and get showered before breakfast is on.”

“Yes ma'am.” Ty groaned from his place in Zane's arms.

“Go on,” Zane smiled, patting him on the ass, “I'll save you a seat at the table.”

 

~*~

 

Ty stood in the shower and let out a soft groan a the hot jets of water hit his tight muscles and cold skin. It was just what he needed after spending an hour chopping wood. He ran his hands through his thick hair as the water continued to pour down on him, he was so lost in it that he didn't hear the door open. He jumped when the shower curtain was pulled back, almost slipping in the shower.

“Zane?!” He said in a loud whisper.

“Hi.” Zane grinned.

“What are you doing?” Ty asked, looking around the rest of the small bathroom.

“Figured I needed a shower too.” Zane laughed.

“Zane, the house is full of people.” Ty groaned.

“People who are all downstairs paying more attention to food than us.” Zane winked, pulling off his shirt leaving Ty to gaze longingly at his body, chest and abs dusted with hair. Ty could already feel himself growing harder before Zane even pulled off his sweatpants. When Zane's pants were off he could see that Zane was fully hard just as he was.

Ty sighed and stepped aside, making room for his husband in the small shower. Zane pulled him into his arms almost immediately, sliding his tongue into Ty's mouth as the hot water pounded their bodies.

“Gotta make it quick.”Ty whispered.

Zane nodded and dropped to his knees, taking Ty's cock down his throat in one swift motion. Ty had to bite his own hand to stop from yelling out as the feeling of Zane's scruff coming into contact with his skin as his head bobbed up and down. He used his free hand to tangle itself in Zane's wet hair, using his growing curls as a handhold to pull his head up and down on his own cock.

“Fuck.” Ty gasped as one of Zane's free hands began to stimulate his ass and tease him. It had been almost two days since they had any kind of sexual contact and Ty was nearly ready to release after only a few minutes.

“Gonna cum, Zane.” Ty hissed as he felt himself explode into Zane's mouth, Zane swallowing every drop.

“My turn.” Zane grinned, standing up and pushing Ty to his knees in the shower. Ty took both of Zane's hands and put them on the back of his head and pushed forward, indicating to Zane that Ty wanted him to fuck his face. Zane complied with a quiet fury, pulling Ty's bobbing head up and down on his cock until he was returning the favor and exploding in Ty's mouth.

Ty looked up to Zane, smiling and wiping his lips off after swallowing all of him.

“Need to wash our hair and get out of here quick before they send a search party.” Ty laughed.

They washed quickly and jumped out of the shower, wrapping towels around their waists. Ty leaned his head out of the door to make sure the coast was clear. When he saw that it was good to go he motioned for Zane to follow him. Immediately as Zane stepped out of the bathroom the door across from them opened. Livi stood there, a shocked smile on her face as she saw the two men bundled up and leaving the bathroom.

Ty and Zane froze in place as she began to laugh.

“Don't tell.” Ty whispered.

Zane looked at the floor, face flushed even in the cold weather.

“Your secret is safe with me,” Livi laughed and walked away, “except I'm totally telling Deuce.”

Ty groaned and pulled Zane into their bedroom before they were found by another surprise visitor.

 

~*~

 

The woods were dark and quiet as the man crept through them. It was nearly impossible for him to juggle the wheelbarrow and the map but they were both equally important. The wheelbarrow contained his triumphs and the map was essential in knowing the exact spot to achieve his desired results.

The man smiled when he reached his destination, the fog coming out of his mouth adding a sinister air to an already dark evening.

' _The_ _Delaware Wedge, tri-state marker_ ' the man smiled and removed the tarp from the wheelbarrow, gazing down longingly at the two bodies that were expertly cut down the middle, leaving him four beautiful parts of two twins. He searched long an hard for this brother and sister and had to make sure they got the attention they deserved. Half of the girls body on either side of the marker should do, then the same position for the boy. It was perfect. Come morning he'd give them the best Christmas present they'd ever received and it would be undeniable who he was. He loaded his wheelbarrow back up and retreated from the scene. Now all he had to do was wait.

 

~*~

 

“Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. ”

The ministers voice boomed through the church as Zane shifted uncomfortably in the pew. Mara had declared that they all had to go to the Christmas Eve service at their church. Zane was never one for religion and Ty never really talked about it either except when he came back home. Zane knew it was pointless to fight it so he just had to grin and bear it. The only upside was that he got to hear Ty sing. They'd been in church for over an hour and thankfully it was winding down. If he spent any longer in the place he felt like he was going to burst into flames.

It was almost 8pm and he was starving. He knew Ty could sense him getting restless and placed his hand on his thigh, giving it a loving squeeze, and smiling with his eyes.

“Almost done.” He leaned over to whisper.

Zane closed his eyes and smiled and by the time he opened them the service was over. He stood back with Livi and let the Grady's say their hellos and goodbyes to the people they've known their entire lives.

“I hate this part.” Livi smiled.

“Try being the one married to another man standing in a church.” Zane laughed.

“Least you didn't have a baby out of wedlock.” Livi ribbed him.

“We're going to hell.” Zane sighed.

“I'll save you a seat.” Livi grinned as Ty walked over to them.

“What're you two so happy about?” Ty asked with a curiously raised eyebrow.

“Just bonding over being the sinners who worked their way into the family.” Livi smiled.

“A little sin never hurt anyone.” Ty winked, taking Zane by the hand and bringing him over to meet people.

“Zane,” Ty held his arm out, “this is Coach Art, my high school football coach.”

“Pleased to meet you, sir.” Zane held out his hand to meet the man in a handshake but the man did not return the gesture. His eyes were trained so sharply on Zane he could feel them digging into him like a knife. Zane hesitated for a few more awkward seconds before smiling, nodding, and taking a few steps back to make it to the safety of his previous position with Livi.

As Zane moved through the church he was acutely aware of all the eyes on him now. He hadn't noticed them before, perhaps they all figured they had to connect with jesus before they let loose their indignation, but the tension was palpable. He could see the sharp glances and make out a few choice words of the murmurers as he passed them. He felt his skin growing hot, equal parts embarrassed and angry. He could see Ty approaching him with a questioning look on his face.

“Ty,” Zane leaned in to whisper, “I'm not feeling the most comfortable in here.”

Ty glanced around the room and realized what was happening. “Shit. Sorry.” he sighed, unsure what to do.

“Hey!” Livi called over their shoulder, “Will you two come out to the car and help with with Amelia's booster seat? It's loose again.”

Zane nodded, thankful for Livi and her quick thinking.

“My hero.” Zane smiled.

“Bunch of asshole hicks.” Ty spat.

“You know they technically didn't say anything.” Zane offered.

“They woulda if we gave them the chance, I should go back in there and ask what the fuck their problem is.” Ty growled, becoming more and more fired up as they went on.

“No.” Zane put a hand on his shoulder, “Just drop it. It's over and done and we're gone. It'll only upset your mom. Don't even say anything to her, I don't want to ruin Christmas.”

“Fine,” Ty huffed, “but only because you asked me to.”

The rest of the evening passed without incident, they all come home and ate a large feast and no one mentioned anything about the church. As dinner ended Ty and Earl went outside to start the large bonfire while the rest of the remaining people worked to clean the kitchen. The fire was roaring with intensity when Ty stepped back into the kitchen to call them outside. Mara grabbed everything they would need for smores before trailing the rest of them outside.

Zane sat on a long chair in front of the fire, feeling it warm him from the outside in. He smiled as Ty settled in next to him and nudged him with his head indicating he wanted to be as close to him as possible. Zane reclined on the long chair and Ty settled his body in next to him, turning sideways slightly to cuddle him as close as possible. He let out a happy sigh as he felt Zane's fingers begin to run through his hair.

“Moments like these make me so happy.” Ty sighed.

“Me too.” Zane said, craning his neck down to kiss him on his forehead.

“Lets roast us some marshmallows.” Ty looked up at Zane with a grin.

“Whatever you want, baby.” Zane softly breathed. Ty could ask him to roast a human body right now and he would agree just because he looked so good illuminated by the fire.

Ty handed him a stick and thrust a marshmallow on the tip of it, laughing when Zane bopped him on the nose with it. Ty retaliated by biting it off the end of the stick.

“Thief.” Zane laughed.

“I'll make it up to you.” Ty winked.

They settled back into each others arms, eating their smores and laughing as crumbs and drops of molten hot chocolate dropped on their clothing, it wasn't the cleanest meal Zane had ever had that's for sure. Zane smiled against Ty's lips as Ty kissed him to get the stray chocolate that was smudged against his bottom lip. He became acutely aware of the eyes on them when the yard fell into silence, save for the crackling fire.

Zane looked up and saw the eyes of the entire Grady family on them, smiling and laughing as they watched him and Ty, natural and at ease, lovingly teasing and kissing each other.

“Said it before but I never get tired of it,” Mara smiled, “you two are dammed adorable.”

Ty replied to her in an inaudible grumble which earned him a laugh and an eye roll from Mara. He settled his body closer into Zane, feeling the warmth radiate off of him as he held him tight. They sat there in silence for long minutes, Ty quietly running his fingers up and down Zane's thighs while Zane continued petting his hair.

Before long Zane felt himself nodding off and motioned to Ty that they should go to bed. Ty agreed with a kiss and they said their goodbyes to everyone still gathered around the fire before turning in. He wasn't worried about nightmares, he knew he would sleep soundly tonight and in the morning he'd get to wake up to his beautiful husband on Christmas with their amazing family and nothing could ruin that. Or so he thought.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

 

Chapter 2

 

“Merry Christmas.” Zane whispered, stirring Ty from his sleep.

“What time is it?” Ty groaned.

“7:30. Your mom wanted to wake you at 7 but I got you a few more minutes.” Zane smiled, kissing him on the lips.

“Where is everyone?” Ty rasped.

“Waiting downstairs for you to wake up.” Zane laughed.

“Too early.” Ty moaned.

“It's never too early for presents.” Zane smiled.

Ty gave a defiant grunt and rolled onto his back to look up at Zane, his smiling face filling him with energy. Zane always looked so damn cute when he was excited.

“Alright, alright,” Ty said, “I'm up.”

He swung his body around and felt his feet hit the cold hardwood floor. A shiver went through his body as Zane pulled him out of the bed and into his arms. They held each other for a few moments before sharing a tender kiss and heading for the door of the bedroom.

Ty bounced down the steps to the living room like an excited child, Zane following closely behind him.

“Look who's finally decided to join us.” Mara laughed.

“Told Zane either he got you up or we send in Chester.” Earl smiled.

“Oh god,” Ty sighed, “thank you for saving me then.” He kissed Zane on the cheek before sitting on the ground and patting the spot next to him to tell Zane where to sit.

The wrapping paper went flying almost as soon as they sat down. The Grady household didn't take turns opening presents, it was more of a free for all with everyone opening anything with their name on it and connecting the dots later. Ty ended up with a new pair of bluetooth sport headphones from Deuce and Livi, an antique pistol from Earl, a black and blue checkered knitted sweater from Mara,and a brand new watch from Zane that also had a secret setting that turned it into a stun gun. He had no idea where Zane could have found such a thing but he was in the market for a new watch and one that could also hurt people if he needed it to was always a good thing.

Ty looked over Zane's haul after he finished. A new bluetooth portable speaker from Deuce and Livi, an antique bayonet from Earl, a black and blue checkered pull over hat that Mara knitted to match Ty's sweater, and Ty had gotten him an identical pair of combat boots that matched the ones of his that Zane stole all the time. They had more presents for each other back at the house, including the one's sent to them from their family in Texas but as it stood right now it had been the perfect Christmas.

Ty smiled as he saw Zane immediately pull his knit cap on his head and laughed as his mother fussed with it to make it perfect for the picture she wanted to take of him in it. He did look really cute in it. Ty decided to pull on his matching sweater and Mara made them pose together for couples pictures.

“Anyone mind if we Skype in Annie and my dad?” Zane asked, no one objected and in fact everyone welcomed the idea. Zane left for a brief second to grab his laptop and set it up on the coffee table. A few minutes later the screen was buzzing and Annie appeared front and center.

“Merry Christmas!” Annie laughed from the speakers.

“Hi, Annie.” Zane smiled into the camera.

“How's it going, kiddo?” Ty asked from behind him. Even on the computer screen he could see her roll her eyes.

“Ignoring you.” She sighed, earning a laugh from the rest of the Grady's in the room.

“Who all is there?” Annie asked.

“Everyone.” Zane smiled, picking up the computer and slowly panning it around the room so everyone could say their hellos.

“How'd Sadie like her presents we sent?” Ty laughed.

“She, and her damn cat, enjoyed them all. Thank you. Those bells are going to keep me up all night.” Annie sighed, flexing her arm back and forth. It had been 10 months since the accident where she shattered it and she was just finally getting full mobility back into it.

“Where's dad?” Zane asked.

“Dad's over here.” Ty heard Harrison call from off screen in a soft echo.

The entire living room erupted into laughter as Harrison populated the screen with Sadie hanging around his neck like a medallion and clutching onto her fluffy orange cat with his hands.

“Merry Christmas, everyone.” Harrison smiled.

“Merry Christmas!” The room shouted back in unison.

“You like your presents?” Annie asked.

“We uh...kinda forgot them at the house,” Zane laughed, “Ty was rushing us to get out and beat traffic so I competently forgot them.”

“Sure! Blame it on me.” Ty rolled his eyes.

“Well if you hadn't been so insistent on leaving so damn early I wouldn't have been half asleep. I forgot my damn toothbrush because of you!” Zane bickered.

“It is I, source of all your problems!” Ty rolled his eyes, “Sometimes I wonder who you blamed everything on before me.”

“Himself.” Annie laughed.

“At least this is more healthy.” Harrison smiled as the entire room erupted into laughter again.

Ty smiled as Zane pressed a kiss to his lips allowing him a pass to blame to forgotten presents on him.

“Anyway, I'll let you guys go to get back to it.” Annie smiled.

“Ok, love you.” Zane smiled.

“Love you too, all of you!” Annie laughed before disconnecting.

As the laughter died down and their presents were stashed away the members of the family settled in on the various seats around the living room. Earl and Mara sharing the love seat, Livi sitting on Deuces lap in the recliner with Amelia sprawled in front of the fire, Chester in his rocking chair, and Ty laying with his head in Zane's lap on the sofa. Ty smiled as Zane absentmindedly ran his hands through his hair. He'd never really told him but he loved it when Zane did that. It not only felt amazing but it was a simple and romantic gesture that comforted him and made him feel safe. He could feel himself drifting off as the conversations around him continued, he'd forgotten how tired he was in all the excitement. He looked up at Zane with hazy eyes and was met with a smile and a nod.

“Rest, baby. I'm here.” Zane smiled.

And with that Ty lost his alertness and drifted back to sleep.

 

~*~

 

“Merry fucking Christmas to me.” Special Agent In Charge Michelle Clancy muttered to herself as they traipsed through the woods at 7 in the morning. She had been woken up by a flurry of phone calls telling her she needed to make this trip out to the woods but no one gave her any specifics past that.

She made it to the clearing and immediately realized why she was there. She took in the sight of the four bodies, or rather two bodies cut into four pieces, and almost threw up. They were strategically placed so one part of another of each half crossed over the three state lines. Her stomach instantly sank, she remembered all the stories she'd heard about cases that were almost a decade old now. It had to be a terrible coincidence, she thought, until she saw a large and ornate dollhouse sitting in the cleaning near the bodies, a giant crack placed in the middle of it's roof as it began to split itself apart.

“Fuck.” She muttered.

“You're telling me.” A male voice said from behind her, startling her enough to make her jump. She turned around and recognized the man as the SAIC of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania field office, Alex Carson.

“Anyone ever tell you not to sneak up on an armed woman at a fucking murder scene, Carson?” Clancy sighed.

Carson was a younger man, around 36 if she could remember correctly, his ash blonde hair framing his angular features and high cheek bones. He was hot, she had to admit. Hot enough for them to have a one night stand last year when they met at an FBI meeting.

“If I recall, you liked it when I grabbed you from behind last time.” Carson joked.

“I will not hesitate to shoot you.” Clancy said flatly, her red hair billowing in the cold breeze. A shiver went through her body and she caught a whiff of a strange smell. The smell of death.

“Stall is back at the CSU tent, we should go meet with him.”

Stall, Clancy assumed, in this case meant Bradley Stall who the SAIC of the Philadelphia field office. They'd never met but she had never heard anything negative about him.

They entered the tent and Stall was sitting on a stool with his face in his hands. He got up as he saw them enter and held out a hand to greet Clancy. He looked to be in his early 60's, his face hard with lines of stress from decades on the job.

“Special Agent Clancy,” Branson shook her hand, “wish we were meeting under better circumstances.”

“Agreed,” she sighed, “I'm assuming the three of us are here because of the position of the...bodies?”

“Yep,” Carson sighed, “they're laid out practically perfectly to cross into an area of each of the states and they fall into all of our jurisdictions. Local law enforcement doesn't want to touch this with a 10 foot poll.”

“This...this isn't what I think it is?” Clancy asked wearily.

“It's exactly what you think it is.” Stall sighed.

“A copycat.” Carson agreed.

“Fuck me running.” Clancy groaned. “What do we know?”

“Victims are twins, no ID yet but it's pretty easy to tell just looking at them. The way they were killed and the laid out was deliberate and the dollhouse is an obvious token.” Stall said.

“The Fall of The House of Usher.” Carson added.

“What?” Clancy asked.

“The Poe story. Twins, a boy and a girl, who end up dying together as their house cracks in half and is swallowed into a swamp. The twins are quite literally cut in half and the dollhouse has a crack in the roof like the story.”

“A fucking Tri-State Killer copycat. And on Christmas.” Clancy groaned.

The three agents left the tent and returned to the crime scene.

“How did he get them out here?” Clancy asked.

“From what we can tell there are a few tracks from what looks to be a wheelbarrow, probably used it to roll the bodies out here.” Stall said.

“And the dollhouse? It's pretty big.” Carson said.

“Maybe he made another trip, maybe it was in the wheelbarrow.” Stall mused.

“There's no blood on it that I can see, if it was being transported with the bodies it would have some trace.” Clancy said, looking the dollhouse over. Something about the dollhouse wasn't sitting right with her. It was too big, too elaborate. She made a mental note to come back to it later.

“Too early to make any calls until CSU gets a better look at everything, they're still photographing the scene.” Stall said.

“Of all the copycats I had to come across it had to be this guy.” Clancy sighed.

“You worked with the two agents who got the original one, right?” Stall asked.

“Yeah, the one's who turned gay and got married, small world.” Carson laughed.

“Don't think because we're standing a few feet away from two dead bodies that I wont tell you how gross that comment was.” Clancy warned.

“Meant no harm,” Carson held his hands up, “not my cup of tea but those two did a lot of hard work in their years as partners regardless of what they got up to in their personal lives.”

Clancy shook her head and stepped out of the tent. “I need to make a phone call.”

 

~*~

 

They had been sitting in the family room for nearly an hour making small talk and enjoying each others company when Zane's cell phone rang. He tried to get to it without waking Ty up but it was useless, Ty's sleepy eyes opened on the first ring. Zane cursed under his breath as he fished it out of his pockets and looked at the screen. Michelle Clancy was calling him.

“Merry Christmas to you too, Michelle.” Zane sighed into the phone.

“Zane?” Clancy asked in a whisper.

“Yeah,” he said, “where are you? I can barely hear you.”

“I don't have much time, I shouldn't even be telling you this, I'd get in so much shit but I needed you to hear it before you saw something.” Michelle said in a hurried voice.

“Clancy, what is it? You're scaring me.” Zane said, his voice raising a little and looking around the room at the questioning glances. He looked down at Ty and saw a raised eyebrow as he sat up.

“Is Ty with you?” She asked.

“Yeah, he's right here.” Zane said.

“Go to your TV. Turn on the news.” She demanded.

Zane mouthed out the word “remote” as Mara scrambled to find it and give it to him. He flipped it to the local news and found a story about a church manger scene being vandalized.

“Clancy there's nothing special here.” Zane sighed.

“Where they fuck are you?” She rushed out.

“We're in West Virginia, what the hell is going on?” Zane asked.

“Fuck, OK, try CNN, it's probably there by now.” Clancy said.

Zane flipped the TV to CNN just as Breaking News was being announced. He watched the screen in slow realization of what he was seeing. 'Two bodies found at tri-state line of Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania'

“Do you see it?” She asked.

“Two bodies found at the Delaware Wedge?” Zane asked cautiously.

“Yes.” She whispered.

“Zane,” Ty asked, “what the fuck is happening?”

“It's looking like...there's a Tri-State copycat.” Clancy sighed.

“Michelle...tell me you did not just say what I thought you did.” Zane said slowly.

“I shouldn't be telling you this, but I knew you needed to hear it from someone. Two bodies, cut in half, a token, it lines up with a Poe story, the body positioning...that's what it looks like.” Clancy trailed off.

Ty grabbed the pone from Zane.

“Clancy you tell me this is a fucking joke right the hell now.” Ty yelled.

“Wish I could. I have to go. Tell Zane I'll call back later.” The line clicked dead.

Zane looked around the room at the confused faces of the family before turning to Ty.

“We should go talk in private.” Zane said.

Ty's only response was a furious head nod.

 

 

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

 

Chapter 3

 

Ty paced back and forth on the front porch. His entire body was vibrating with a mix of anger and fear.

“This is some kind of fucking joke, right?” Ty spat.

“I don't think so.” Zane sighed.

Ty could barely form words. This is the last thing he ever expected to happen. He could already feel the dark memories creeping up from the deep place he'd buried them years ago. He stopped moving long enough to look at Zane who was staring blankly into the woods. He sighed, he was being selfish, this had to be fucked up for Zane too.

Ty walked up behind Zane and put his arms around his waist.

“I'm freaking out.” Ty huffed.

“I know. Me too. I'm just hiding it better.” Zane frowned.

“Please don't hide it.” Ty said, “We need to be together on this, we can't let it eat us up.”

“I know,” Zane smiled, turning his body to be face to face with Ty, “what do we do?”

“Nothing. It's not our problem.” Ty huffed.

“Really? Because the paranoid side of me says that those bodies were dumped in Baltimore jurisdiction for a reason. Is it really just a fucked up coincidence that our former co-worker is the SAIC who got this?” Zane frowned again.

“I was trying to ignore that possibility.” Ty grumbled.

“You're right though, we're not FBI, we can't do anything.” Zane shrugged.

“We're CIA though,” Ty whispered, “should we try to ask if they've heard anything.”

“Ty, I really don't think they care.” Zane laughed.

“They'll sure as fuck care when some psychopath cuts one of our hearts out and puts it under the floorboard of their safe house.” Ty rolled his eyes.

“We can ask how we should proceed when we get back, I guess.” Zane sighed.

“All they'll say is shoot first and ask questions later.” Ty laughed.

“Not a bad idea.” Zane smiled.

“Maybe it's just a fucked up coincidence, there's not that much public info available about us on the case, fucking Burns covered most of it up.” Ty said.

“Most of what he couldn't get was just the ambulance records from the car crash, right?” Zane asked.

“Yeah. He scrubbed the official records and the reports of you killing Henninger. Still, I don't think it would be that hard for someone to put the pieces together if they were really looking for it. Not even counting the people inside the FBI who know the whole story.” Ty slumped into the chair next to Zane.

“You don't think there could be another psychopath in the bureau?” Zane questioned.

“After everything I've seen in my life I wouldn't fucking rule anything out.” Ty rolled his eyes and tucked his knees to his chest.

“Are you scared?” Zane asked.

“A little,” Ty whispered, “you?”

“Yeah.” Zane said, closing his eyes.

He felt Ty's hand on his, lacing their fingers together and squeezing.

“Least we have each other, seemed to work out pretty well back then.” Ty smiled.

“And we don't want to kill each other all the time now.” Zane laughed.

“God help the fucker if he tries to come for us.” Ty winked and leaned in to give Zane a furious kiss on the lips.

They were interrupted by a knock at the wall behind them. Zane turned his head and found Deuce standing there.

“You guys OK?” He asked, “I think I've put it all together from the news. You think this is a copycat of the case you two first met on?”

“That's what it looks like.” Ty sighed.

“That was Clancy on the phone, she called and gave me more details than she really should have, but it's really looking like a copycat.”

“That's fucked up. And it was basically dumped in Baltimore's back yard?” Deuce questioned.

“Hence the freaking out.” Zane chuckled.

“What're you guys gonna do?” Deuce asked.

“We're supposed to go back tomorrow...” Ty trailed off.

“We don't have to.” Zane smiled.

“We have lives, and the store, and everything else. We can't just hide here because there might be some copycat who might be coming to kill us.” Ty protested.

“I'm fine with whatever you want to do, baby.” Zane said.

“Going back would be best, we could at least talk to Clancy in person, maybe she can give us more details that she couldn't over the phone.” Ty offered.

“Then we'll leave in the morning.” Zane pulled him into a hug.

“We should go inside and fill them in on what's happening.” Deuce said.

“God, Ma is gonna have a fucking heart attack.” Ty sighed.

 

~*~

 

“We have anything yet?” Clancy asked, standing in the crime lab next to Fred Perrimore.

“Techs are running up the preliminary report right now.” Stall said.

A younger woman with hair so black it showed as a deep blue under certain lighting stood next to him, introduced to Clancy as Special Agent Christina Fowler, with her eyes on the ground.

Each of the office heads had agreed to keep this investigation very close for the time being. Aside from the crime scene unit they had decided to only bring in the one agent they trusted most in their office. Clancy had of course chosen Perrimore, the things they had been through together over the years made it an automatic choice. Stall had brought Special Agent Fowler along with him. She looked up as she heard the door open, expecting to see a tech, and saw Carson walk in with a younger man trailing behind him.

“Everyone, this is Special Agent Jackson Grant.” Carson introduced his guest.

They all went around the room, reintroducing themselves and waited in an uneasy silence for the first report.

The door swung open again and another woman walked through in a white lab coat, mousey brown hair framing her face, and her glasses slightly askew on her nose.

“Sorry about the wait, as you can assume it's been pretty hectic around here today.” The woman sighed.

“Don't worry about it, Dr. Bennett.” Stall smiled.

“Sorry, let me introduce myself, Annabelle Bennett.” She gave the room a wave.

“Dr. Bennett,” Clancy began, “do you have anything for us?”

“I do,” Bennett said, “We got an ID on them first of all. Elliot and Dana Spencer. Trust fund kids. Elliot was in the system for a DUI charge at the age of 21. They are, or rather were, 24.”

“Just kids.” Carson sighed.

“Time of death is approximately three days ago and they were reported missing five days ago so the killer had them for two days before killing them.” Stall said.

“There was also small traces of chloroform in their bloodstream.” Bennett added.

“What the hell did he use to cut them in half?” Perrimore asked

“Industrial band saw.” Bennett cringed.

“Jesus fuck.” Clancy muttered.

“There were also traces of Succinylcholine in their blood too.” Bennett frowned.

“Which is what?” Carson asked.

“It's a drug that causes complete paralysis of the body...” Bennett trailed off.

“Oh my god.” Carson muttered.

“Are you telling me you think they were awake the entire time?” Clancy gasped?

“Possibly, yes. The cause of death points to blood loss from the actual act itself. The saw started at the groin and worked it's way up the body.” Bennett frowned.

“I'm going to be sick.” Perrimore rasped.

“So you're telling me there's some bloody ass torture chamber out there somewhere?” Clancy asked.

“Probably not. There were traces of bleach on Elliot's skin, probably got on there when the killer was cleaning up.”

“What about the dollhouse?” Stall asked.

“We gave it a go over,” Bennett began, “no traces of blood, fingerprints, or anything. No bleach on it so it wasn't cleaned. Only a few specks of dirt from the top of the roof where the crack was. Likely from whatever tool he used to make it. We're running a trace on it right now to see if it turns up anything special but it will be a while before we get those results.”

“Thank you, Dr. Bennett.” Stall sighed as she excused herself from the room.

Clancy took a seat at the cold metallic table and put her head in her hands. This was going to get worse before it got better. A lot worse.

 

~*~

 

Ty's eyes were focused on the fan swinging above his head in his childhood bedroom precariously rocking back and forth. He was in the queen bed alone while Zane was downstairs helping his mother clean the kitchen and trying to reassure her that they weren't going to get murdered when they went back to Baltimore tomorrow. He was thankful for Zane taking it upon himself to do that, for one because he didn't have the energy to reassure his mother, or for another because he could use a few minutes alone to process everything.

On Ty's mental list of things he never thought would fucking happen a copycat Tri-State Killer was most certainly number one. And yet here it was happening. He figured he should buy a lotto ticket or something because he was clearly in upside down world now. He kept telling himself it had to be some sort of weird coincidence but he knew just as well that their world didn't work on coincidences. If it walked like a duck, if it swam like a duck, and if it quacked like a duck then it was a fucking serial killing psychopath saying hello to them. He sighed just as the door opened and smiled when he saw Zane. Good. He'd had enough alone time for now.

“Figured you could use some alone time.” Zane smiled.

“Thanks.” Ty smiled back.

“Need more?” Zane asked, ready to step out and close the door.

“No, I was just starting to get restless. Good timing, Garrett.” Ty put his hand to the side of the bed and tapped it, indicating he wanted Zane next to him.

“I talked to Clancy,” Zane started, “she said she would come by the bookstore tomorrow when she got a chance to fill us in on stuff.”

“She knows she could lose her job right?” Ty laughed.

“She said she doesn't care, she's worried Ty, I am too.” Zane frowned.

“I know. Me too.” Ty sighed.

“It's been so long but I still remember everything like it was yesterday. I feel all the same fear...and excitement.” Zane confessed.

“OK good, I'm not a total psychopath.” Ty laughed.

“What do you mean?” Zane questioned.

“I feel a little excited too...” Ty trailed off, “not excited that two people are dead but I never thought I'd have this feeling again. You know we're both fucked up, right?” Ty flopped back onto the bed and huffed.

“I already knew that.” Zane laughed, laying down next to Ty and resting his head on his chest..

“We stay together constantly.” Ty demanded.

“I wouldn't have it any other way.” Zane agreed.

“Watch out for killer taxis.” Ty said.

“Mhm.” Zane sighed.

“And killer computers.” Ty added.

“Yep.” Zane said.

“And killer car bombs.” Ty gasped.

“I don't think you have to add a killer in front a 'car bomb'” Zane laughed.

“Shut up.” Ty rolled his eyes.

“Watch out for killer killers too.” Zane teased.

“I think we should stay at the store.” Ty said.

“Why?” Zane asked.

“It's more public, someone would be stupid to try and pull off something there. We can lock it down easier and keep a better eye on it if we're in one place. Plus there's a secret fourth level with a holding cell and a panic room.” Ty listed off.

“Hard to argue with that.” Zane laughed.

“We'll go to the house first when we get back, pack up all the stuff we need, grab food from the fridge to cook with there, and all the guns and knives we can carry.” Ty smiled.

“It was a great idea in retrospect that they built in an entire studio apartment and full sized functioning kitchen into the store.” Zane laughed.

“It's almost as if they knew we would need two places to hide eventually.” Ty sighed.

Zane was silent, lost in his thoughts.

“Hey,” Ty interrupted, “can i ask you a question?”

“Sure.” Zane said with a raise of his eyebrow.

“Are you mad we don't live there? In the shop?” Ty asked.

“No.” Zane laughed.

“I only ask because when I bought it I wanted to make it our new home, ya know, make it ours since the row house is technically just mine...” Ty trailed off.

“I know this, Tyler.” Zane smiled, “But then the place kinda blew up and when the CIA rebuilt it they didn't exactly follow our specifications and only added in the studio on the third floor. Can't exactly just live in that.”

“I know...I just think about it sometimes.” Ty admitted.

“Why haven't you said anything in the last two years then?” Zane asked.

“Because I felt dumb.” Ty sighed.

“Don't. The row house is ours. I fucking love that place, Ty.” Zane smiled.

“OK, just making sure.” Ty said in a small voice.

“We should sleep,” Zane smiled, “we've got a long drive tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” Ty agreed.

They shuffled under the covers as Ty reached over and turned out the bedside lamp, casting the room into a cold darkness. Ty rolled on his side and moved backwards into Zane's warm embrace, sliding their feet together and tangling themselves up in each other.

“Zane?” Ty asked in a quiet whisper.

“Yeah?” Zane whispered back.

“Make sure you don't let me go tonight, OK?” Ty asked, pulling Zane's arms even tighter around him.

“Of course, doll.” Zane smiled, placing a kiss at the top of Ty's spine and pressing their bodies together.

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

 

 

 

 

Chapter 4

 

Ty had just pulled the car into the Baltimore city limits when Zane's phone rang. He looked at the clock on the dashboard of the mustang, it was almost 11am. They had left Bluefield around 6am that morning and made pretty great time on the drive. They would have left earlier but Mara insisted on making them eat breakfast before they hit the road along with telling them that she would be very angry if either of them got murdered. He knew his mother was more worried than she'd let on but she knew just as well as he did that there was nothing she could do to change anything. “Let go and let god.” as his mother would say.

“Hello?” Zane answered.

Ty assumed that Clancy was on the other end of the line.

“We just got into the city, we'll be at the store in about 20 minutes. You'll meet us there? OK. Good. See you soon.” Zane hung up the phone.

“It's about to become real.” Ty said with a pout of his lips.

“For us anyway.” Zane sighed.

They pulled up to the front of the store shortly after, Ty parking the car and looking for Clancy who hadn't arrived yet. Ty unlocked the door of the bookstore, stretching out his stiff limbs from the car ride. He was suddenly glad at their decision to install stairs that led to the studio apartment rather than the ladder that was their previously, it felt less claustrophobic and Ty couldn't bring himself to pull his body up a ladder if he tried. He took the stairs up to the third floor of the shop and unlocked the door, throwing their bags onto the ground walking over to the french doors on the other side of the small apartment to open up the view into the store below. He turned back and flopped onto the bed with a loud groan as Zane came into the room after him.

“Can't move.” Ty mumbled.

“I'll haul her up here when she gets here, safer place to talk anyway.” Zane smiled.

The bell ringing in the shop below cut off Ty's next thought. Zane's head turned to the balcony.

“Go make sure it's not a murderer.” Ty huffed as Zane walked to the balcony to look into the store.

“It's Clancy.” Zane said, turning his head back to Ty.

“Up here!” Zane called down below with a wave.

“Up or down?” Clancy called from below.

“Up.” Zane said, “Lock the door behind you.”

A few seconds later Clancy was standing in the doorway to the apartment.

“I've never been up here, it's cute.” She smiled.

“Think we're gonna stay here while this whole thing is happening.” Zane said.

“What do you know?” Ty asked.

“First,” Clancy sighed, “I'm not telling you this, just so we're clear, this conversation isn't happening.”

“Got it, boss.” Ty laughed.

Clancy recapped what she knew so far. The victims, the cause of death, the drugs in the system, the dollhouse, the Poe story.

“No one thinks it's a coincidence that the bodies were left where they were.” Clancy said.

“Who else is involved?” Zane asked.

“We're keeping it small for now, on account of the last time there was a killer he was a part of the FBI,” Clancy said, “So far it's me, the other two SAIC's of the Pennsylvania field offices, and one other person we each trust. Perrimore for me and two other people I'd never met before yesterday.”

“It's good that it's being kept small for now.” Zane said.

“For now. It wont stay small if there's another murder.” Clancy frowned. “People have already mentioned you two.”

“Shocking.” Ty deadpanned.

“Who?” Zane asked.

“Carson was the first, pointing out the bodies were dropped in the same vicinity as the, and i quote, 'two FBI agents who got the first killer then turned gay and got married.'” Clancy rolled her eyes.

“Charming.” Zane laughed.

“I didn't _turn_ gay.” Ty protested.

“I know, doll.” Zane smiled, patting him on the head. "Carson's on this, huh?"

"You know him?" Clancy asked, "He didn't seem to know you aside from the...legends" 

"We met once, years ago." Zane shrugged.

“The director is already on my ass.” Clancy sighed.

“The director is an ass.” Ty grunted.

“I'm going to assume you don't have any leads yet?” Zane asked.

“The only thing we have is a few specks of dirt from the dollhouse, they're analyzing it to see if there's anything special about it.” Clancy shrugged.

“Riveting.” Ty rolled his eyes.

“I want to put a car outside.” Clancy said.

“Hell no!” Ty protested.

“I'm worried about you two.” She fought back.

“I don't need anyone watching my every move. I have Zane for that.” Ty barked.

“As much as I hate to do it, I agree with him.” Zane said.

Clancy let out a breath of defeat.

“You're keeping the circle small, right? Putting a car with two agents on us throws all that out of the window, especially if it's someone you don't trust to not be an idiot and say something.” Zane added. “You know us, you know we can take care of ourselves.”

“If this guy is really out there because of us he won't come for us so soon,” Ty started, “he's trying to get attention. I don't know why the fuck he's doing it but he's not going to cut two people in half just to get out attention then come kill us. If this is really happening...it's going to be a game. You need to focus on catching the bastard before he kills anyone else rather than thinking and worrying about us.”

“I hate when you're right.” Clancy sighed.

“Doors are locked, we won't be alone, we've got enough guns in this room alone to start a small army, we'll be good.” Zane rested his hand on her shoulder.

“I'll keep you in the loop,” she smiled, “but if I get fired because of it you have to give me a job here and pay me really well.”

“Promise.” Zane smiled and walked her out of the store.

Ty kept his position in bed. That old feeling he used to constantly have, that the other shoe was about to drop, made it's way back to him and he didn't like it one bit.

 

~*~

 

The club was dark and crowded. The only light that filled the space came from scattered strobe lights that flashed off and on to the beat of the [music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFCZP1Nz3Ds), rhythmically throwing the room into brief darkness. The music pumped through the speakers so loud you could barely hear yourself think.

 

 _Dreams stay with you_ _  
_ _Always on my mind_ _  
_ _I got a lust for love_ _  
_ _Seasons bring truth_ _  
_ _When I found mine_ _  
_ _It was summertime_

 

He looked into the reflective surface of the table and realized he couldn't see his own face. Who was he? He couldn't remember. He looked around the crowded room and realized no one had a face. It was a mass of bodies writhing to the music with ominous black voids where their faces should be. He got up and pushed his way through the faceless crowd. He could hear whispers comings from the dancers but none of it sounded intelligible, just babbled syllables that didn't string any coherent words together.

 

 _It’s the middle of the night and I’m so gone_  
_And I’m thinking about_  
_How much I need you but you really want somebody else_  
_Should be given the right to carry on_  
_I’m still thinking about_  
_How much I need you but you really want somebody else_

 

He desperately pushed his way through the mass of flesh and fell out of the other side onto his hands and knees. He was face first with a puddle of water, but he still had no face, just a dark void of tar black nothingness. He looked up at the long alleyway in front of him and glanced backwards at the dancing wall of people, they were one in the same, the long alleyway that looked so familiar seamlessly blending with the club. He looked up and saw a man walking towards him, finally someone with a face! He was beautiful, he thought, the most beautiful person he'd ever seen. Eye's glinting of amber and green, a smile so divine it warmed him from the inside out, and a faint tattoo he could see on his arm but couldn't tell what it was from this distance. The music was still thumping behind him as he saw a dark shadow approach the beautiful man from behind and watched in horror as the shadow grabbed him from behind, producing a blade from darkness and pulling it across the beautiful mans throat. He tried to scream as he watched the man fall to his knees, but he had no face and couldn't make out a single word. He could do nothing but watch as the shadow turned into a dark raven and flew away into the crowd of faceless bodies behind him leaving the beautiful man to choke in a pool of his own blood.

 

 _You’re not the one_ _  
_ _Guess you’re not the one_

 

~*~

 

“No!” Zane shot up in the bed screaming his lungs out.

Ty jumped out of the bed, acting only on reflex, ready to attack before he realized what was happening. He looked back at the bed and at Zane sitting there panting with sweat pouring down his body and tears flowing from his eyes.

“Zane? Can you hear me?” Ty asked.

The only reply he received from Zane was a slow nod.

“Can I touch you?” Ty asked again.

Zane gave him another slow nod. Ty crawled back onto the bed and sat behind Zane, putting his hands on his shoulders and giving him a slow massage, trying to work out his taught and tense muscles. They sat in silence for long minutes before Ty spoke again.

“Want to talk about it?” Ty asked.

“Sure.” Zane whispered.

“Did you kill me again?” Ty's question was cautious.

“No...someone else did.” Zane started crying again.

It wasn't a silent stream of tears, it was one of those full body sobs. The kind where you lost all control of your emotions and just let it out. Ty was silent, he'd never seen Zane like this, so raw and emotional. They'd cried in each others arms hundreds of times but this was something different. All he could do was wrap his arms around Zane and pull him backwards and hold him close, trying to apply as much pressure as he could without hurting him. He'd seen somewhere that if someone was having a complete breakdown that hugging them tight and close mimicked some primal need for comfort. It seemed to be working, Zane's sobs were growing less frantic and were slowing becoming replaced by more natural crying and sniffling.

“I'm sorry.” Zane said between tears.

“For what?” Ty raised his eyebrow, in his mind Zane had nothing to be sorry about. Not even for waking him up, Ty couldn't count the number of times he'd done the same thing to Zane.

“For being so weak.” Zane's crying began to grow frantic again.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Ty snapped, coming across much angrier than he intended, but it was a stupid fucking thing to say.

“I'm weak. I can't even save you in my dreams. I can't even stop fucking crying.” Zane gasped for breaths.

This was dangerously close to turning into a full blown panic attack and Ty needed to do all hr could before it got to that point.

“Don't you dare say that, you asshole.” He settled on tough love.

“But..” Ty cut him off.

“No. It's a fucking dream, of course you can't save me, that's the point. Your mind is showing you all these things you feel. It's not real life. How many times have you saved me? Killed for me?” Ty asked.

'I can't even go to sleep without being scared lately. I'm useless.” Zane sighed.

“You're not useless, Zane.” Ty frowned.

“What if this happens every single night for the rest of our lives?” Zane rasped.

“Then I guess I'll just have to learn to sleep through it.” Ty smiled.

“What if you get tired of it and want to leave me?” Zane started crying again.

“OK, now you're just being insane. I would never leave you for anything.” Ty began to slowly run his hand up and down Zane's chest. “Let me go make you some tea.”

“OK, that would be nice.” Zane said, slightly pathetically, but in a terribly adorable way.

Ty wriggled himself away from Zane and got out of bed, throwing on a robe and starting for the door before Zane caught him by the hand.

“I don't want to stay up here by myself.” Zane confessed in a whisper.

Ty's heart broke at how fragile and terrified he looked.

“OK,” Ty smiled and pulled Zane up by his hand, “come downstairs with me then.”

Ty flicked on the low lights across the bookstore to illuminate the way to the kitchen, Zane walking next to him with his arm hooked around Ty's. He went into the kitchen and got out everything he would need for the tea, making sure he used decaffeinated in a small hope that they would be able to go back to sleep shortly. When the tea was done he handed a steaming cup to Zane.

“Ty?” Zane asked.

“Yes?” Ty smiled.

“I-” Ty cut him off.

“If you say you're sorry one more time I will throw this tea in your face.” Ty warned.

“I was going to say I love you.” Zane smiled.

“Oh,” Ty laughed, “I love you too.”

Ty set the teacup down on the table and pulled Zane in for another hug. He pressed their lips together and let the kiss last for a few seconds longer than normal. He felt Zane smile against his lips and knew he had his Zane back and the terrified and sad one had gone back to ground.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i might like zane angst a little too much


	5. Chapter 5

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 5

 

A faint breeze blowing on his exposed back startled Zane from his slumber. He rolled over to reach for Ty and found his side of the bed ice cold. He looked around the sunlight filtered room and found no one else with him, the only oddity being the open window. He rolled over to the night stand to grab his phone and almost dropped it when he clicked the screen on to check the time. It was 12:30 in the afternoon. He had a vague recollection of his nightmare from last night and remembered waking up screaming around 1am and being up with Ty until he fell asleep again around 2am and somewhere in between he'd apparently slept for 10 hours.

Zane sprung out of the bed, throwing on any halfway decent clothes he had, and looked out the french doors and into the store. He saw it bustling with life, a line at the register of people waiting to check out. His eyes focused on the person behind the counter, Ty. Had Ty been running the store by himself all day? Zane quickly darted into the bathroom to run a brush through his unruly hair and then bounced down the stairs and into the store.

“Good afternoon.” Ty smiled.

“Why didn't you wake me up?” Zane gasped, stepping to the second computer and unlocking it to help Ty with the check outs.

“You've had such a problem sleeping the last few months I figured I'd just leave you to catch up on some of it when I saw you were out like a light.” Ty laughed.

“Have you been running the store by yourself all day?” Zane asked.

“Not completely, I've had Jiminy and Cricket too.” Ty grinned.

They worked for a few minutes in silence as they cleared the line and then settled into one of the tables as a calm fell over the store.

“Feel any better?” Ty asked, “You look a lot better.”

“Yeah.” Zane confessed. “I guess I really didn't realize how much it was taking a toll on me.

“You remember anything?” Ty asked quietly.

“You mean do I remember having a complete and total emotional breakdown and crying over the fact that I was crying and that I thought you would leave me because of it?” Zane laughed.

“Something like that.” Ty grinned.

“Not one of my finer moments.” Zane sighed.

“You know I never would right?” Ty asked.

“Of course I do.” Zane smiled. “I think I should try to make an appointment with Dr. Asher today.” 

“If you think you need to, go for it.” Ty smiled at him.

“You wouldn't mind me slipping out for for an hour or so?” Zane questioned.

“No, cuz you wouldn't be slipping out. I'll close the store for lunch and go with you.” Ty said flatly.

“What?” Zane was taken aback.

“Neither of us are going anywhere alone with a potential psychopath out there.” Ty said.

“Ty, it's just down the street.” Zane sighed.

“Good, then we can walk,” Ty smiled, “you make your appointment and I'll wait in the lobby for you. I'll play Digger in a game of Words With Friends or something on my phone while I wait for you. It'll be good for me, make me feel like I'm smart.” Ty winked.

“You're not going to go stir crazy sitting in a silent office for 45 minutes?” Zane asked.

“Probably, but it's for you so I'll deal with it. Go make the call.” Ty leaned over the table to give him a kiss on the lips before getting up and walking back to the counter. Zane smiled as he watched Ty walk away before pulling out his phone and dialing the office to make an appointment.

 

~*~

 

Zane sat in the waiting room with Ty and looked up as the door to the office opened.

“Zane,” Dr. Asher smiled holding out his hand, “good to see you.”

“You too, doc.” Zane smiled, “This is Ty by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you.” Ty smiled and held out his hand.

“Likewise.” Dr. Asher smiled and shook his hand.

Zane saw Ty go slightly rigid and suppressed a chuckle.

“You don't have to wait here.” Zane smiled.

“I know. I'm still gonna though.” Ty winked before giving him a quick kiss. “Now go get your head on straight while I kick Diggers ass at Scrabble.”

Zane gave him a quick hug and Ty whispered into his ear.

“You didn't tell me he was hot.”

Zane couldn't suppress that laugh and barked out loud at the comment before turning red in embarrassment. Ty rolled his eyes and patted him on the back as he walked towards the door to the office.

“Glass of water?” Dr. Asher asked.

“Sure.” Zane replied, half paying attention, taking the glass that was offered to him and talking a big gulp from it while studying Dr. Asher.

Zane had never really noticed until now that Dr. Asher was objectively very attractive. He was about Ty's age and had sandy blonde hair and was curiously devoid of any major wrinkles. Zane could tell under his suit that he had a nice body, not that he cared all that much, Ty's body was the only one he paid attention to. Still, it made Zane just a little bit happy that Ty had a faint hint of jealousy brewing inside him. Zane loved jealous Ty, he was a lot more fun in the bedroom.

“What's so funny?” Dr. Asher asked.

“Huh?” Zane said, snapped from his daydreams.

“You're smiling to yourself and Ty said something out there that made you laugh.” Dr. Asher said.

“Oh, it's nothing.” Zane deflected.

“Is it?” Dr. Asher questioned with a wry smile.

“I hate when you do that.” Zane laughed.

“It's my job.” Dr. Asher shrugged.

“He said I never told him you were hot. I think he's a little jealous.” Zane admitted.

“Do you think I'm hot? Were you purposely withholding that from Ty?” Dr. Asher smiled.

“No,” Zane rolled his eyes, “Objectively, yes, you are attractive. But I'd never paid attention to it until Ty said something so there was nothing to withhold.”

“Does it bother you that Ty finds me attractive?” Dr. Asher questioned.

“Not at all. Not unless he slept with you.” Zane shrugged.

“At least you wont have to worry about that.” Dr. Asher laughed, holding up his left hand with a wedding band on it.

Zane laughed in response.

“So what made you make a last minute appointment, we didn't have anything scheduled ahead of time?” Dr. Asher asked.

“I've been having more of the nightmares recently. They've been a lot more intense.” Zane said.

“How so?” Dr. Asher asked.

“Christmas Eve I had this really vivid dream where I killed Ty with my own hands, stabbed him in the gut with one of my knives and licked his blood off my hands while I watched him bleed out on a beach.” Zane shivered.

“That is pretty intense.” Dr. Asher admitted.

“Then last night I had one where I was in a club but no one had a face, not even me, the only person I saw who had a face was Ty but I couldn't get to him or call out to him. Then this shadow...thing...came up behind him and slit his throat and he died. Then the thing turned into a raven and flew away.” Zane's voice was shaking.

"Faces are a symbol of honesty, you can tell a lot from a persons face. In my experience when people dream of themselves or others around them as faceless it's because they are hesitant about telling the truth about some issue in their life. That's one interpretation anyway. A man without a face could suggest your fear of facing something from your past. If am man without the face is trying to hurt you, it could mean that your past is affecting your future."  Dr. Asher said.

"The man without the face wasn't trying to hurt me though, it was Ty he killed." Zane sighed. 

"Perhaps you associate yourself that much with TY?" Asher raised his eyebrow, "All your dreams lately seem to have one thing in common, the death of Ty."

“Yeah,” Zane huffed, “then I had a complete breakdown when I woke up from it. Hyperventilating, sobbing, I was convinced Ty was going to leave me because I was a weak mess.”

“Breakdown is a very loaded term, don't be hard on yourself by using it. Call it a moment, weak spot, anything other than a breakdown.” Dr. Asher smiled.

“OK.” Zane laughed.

“So what did Ty say?” Dr. Asher asked.

“He held me for a while, told me I was being dumb, that I wasn't weak and that he'd never leave me, then he made me tea and let me sleep for 10 hours while he ran the store by himself.” Zane smiled.

“Does it upset you that he maybe minimized your emotions by calling you dumb?” Dr. Asher raised his eyebrows and wrote something in his book.

“No,” Zane laughed, “that's just Ty. It's how we talk to each other. Tough love, you know?”

“Sure.” Dr. Asher nodded.

“These nightmares just don't seem to stop. They keep coming and every time it's someone I love dying. Annie, Ty, Dad, The Grady's, Sadie, sometimes all of them at once.” Zane shook his head.

“And you thought you'd gotten over these dreams after you met Ty?” Dr. Asher said.

“Yep, they plagued me after Becky, I just saw her die over and over and drank myself half to death to escape them. But she hasn't been in any of these dreams. Or my mother. I keep seeing the people who are still here die.” Zane sighed and took another swig of his water. "It's not that they stopped after meeting Ty, he kind of...curbed them? They still happened occasionally but never with the frequency that they've been happening, not since we met all those years ago."

“So you think the people you have left are either going to die or leave you in some way?” Dr. Asher mused.

“It sucks.” Zane laughed.

“Have you felt the urge to drink to escape these dreams?” Dr. Asher asked as Zane shifted on the couch.

“Not really...I suppose it's always at the back of my mind like it is with any alcoholic but I don't feel the need to go and get fucked up. Not when I have Ty with me. I slept longer just because of him than I would have slept if I'd drank myself to sleep.” Zane smiled.

“So Ty is just your new drug of choice, one that doesn't have any repercussions.” Asher said flatly.

“I'd hardly call my husband a drug.” Zane rolled his eyes.

“You told me once that's exactly what you did.” Dr. Asher countered.

“Yeah. Almost 10 years ago when we first began whatever our relationship was back then. It wasn't the healthiest of things and we both realized that. It just took me a little bit longer. I haven't thought of him like that in years, since at least New Orleans.” Zane said.

“This isn't the first time you've mentioned New Orleans, what is up with that?” Dr. Asher prodded.

Zane hesitated, that was one door he didn't like to open back up because it made him sick with himself when he thought of how he'd attacked Ty that night in the bar. The only one he could even halfway talk about it with was Deuce. He'd reserve and and all related matters to that situation for his other shrink.

“Classified work stuff, can't get into it, even if I am retired.” Zane lied, unable to tell if Dr. Asher believed him.

“Fair enough, wouldn't want to get you in trouble or make you feel guilty.” Dr. Asher smiled.

“Any suggestions? About the nightmares?” Zane asked.

“It sounds dumb but keep a journal by your bed with a pen. Any time you have one calm yourself as much as you can and open the journal, date it, and write 'it's not real, it was just a dream.' over and over again until you're calm. Your hand will hurt like a bitch but it's a good way to visualize things. By dating the pages you're able to look back at other time when it happened and see that you survived it then and you'll survive it now. It's also a good method of keeping track of the frequency of them.” Dr. Asher smiled as the timer next to him beeped.

“45 minutes already?” Zane sighed and finished off the rest of the water that was sitting in front of him.

“Time flies when you're having fun.” Dr. Asher laughed and walked to the door to let Zane out of the room.

Zane laughed as he saw Ty leaned over the receptionists desk showing her his phone.

“Come on, I know we can figure out something! What's the longest word we can spell? I have to kick his ass!” Ty egged her on.

“Having fun?” Zane asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, hey baby,” Ty said nonchalantly, “Digger is winning so I'm making the most of my resources.”

“Here.” The receptionist said, taking Ty's phone and filling in letters into the squares.

“90 points? Damn! Hi-five!” Ty demanded, clapping his hand to the younger girls who had stars in her eyes. Ty was oblivious to her, more focused on the game than the girl who was clearly in love with him.

“Come on, Webster.” Zane rolled his eyes, dragging Ty out of the office as the rest of the staff collapsed in a fit of laughter.

“I won, Zane! I won!” Ty cheered.

“No Ty, the receptionist won.” Zane laughed.

“Buzzkill.” Ty grumbled.

“I can't take you anywhere.” Zane laughed as he pulled Ty into a kiss on the elevator.

“The visit help any?” Ty asked with a smile.

“Yeah,” Zane said, “I want to stop and pick up a nice bound journal on the way home.”

 

 

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> five and six went up almost back to back so make sure you dont accidentally read this one first!

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 6

 

“April.” Ty said flatly as he walked up to the store to reopen it.

“Took you long enough,” the younger girl laughed while sitting on the stairs at the front of the building. “You guys really don't have standard operating hours do you?”

“We kinda just do whatever we feel like.” Ty shrugged.

“Where's Zane? I wanted to see if he could special order some things for me.” April said.

“Zane is here.” Zane laughed from a few steps behind Ty.

“I don't know how I missed your freakishly tall figure.” April laughed.

Ty rolled his eyes and unlocked the door to the store, holding it open for both of them to enter before him. The copy of _The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe_ in the display of the store caught his eye. He should probably remove it in light of recent events. After April left, he decided, since it had a gun inside of it and all.

“What was it that you wanted?” Zane asked.

“I need a Spanish copy of The Iliad and The Odyssey.” April sighed.

“Why on earth do you need those in Spanish?” Zane laughed.

“Class next semester, they said if we can find copies of them in Spanish we'd get extra credit.” April shrugged.

“I'll see what I can do.” Zane shook his head.

Ty watched him from his place in front of the window. He smiled as Zane bit his lip, a tell tale sign of his frustration, because he had no idea where to begin trying to locate copies of the book she wanted.

“When do you need it?” Zane huffed.

“Beginning of March?” April said sheepishly.

“Well, I feel better know I have a few months at least.” Zane sighed.

“I believe in you.” April laughed before picking up her bag, “Anyway, gotta run, see you guys later. And thank you in advanced.”

Ty rolled his eyes as the girl was gone from the store quicker than she entered. How they'd become friends with a 20 year old college student he'd never be able to wrap his mind around.

“I swear sometimes I think that she thinks she's our daughter.” Zane sighed and put his head down on the desk.

“I'm not ready to have a 20 year old.” Ty laughed.

More kid talk. Ty had planned to bring it up seriously while they were still in Bluefield. He had it all planned out, they were going to go for a walk in the woods after opening presents and Ty was going to bring it up and make sure they had their first serious talk about the subject. Of course, things never wanted to go his way and instead of talking about children they were talking about a copycat serial killer.

“We should go back to the house later to pick up some stuff for the next few days.” Zane said.

“Yeah.” Ty said absentmindedly, still lost in his thoughts about kids.

“Did you even hear what I said?” Zane laughed.

“We should go back to the house later to pick some flowers for the next few days.” Ty repeated, obviously to how dumb it sounded.

“OK, just making sure.” Zane rolled his eyes and walked away towards the back of the store.

Ty stood rooted in place and wondered why he felt like his biological clock was slowly ticking away.

 

~*~

 

“I want to do something fun tonight.” Zane smiled as he sat in the kitchen of the row house while Ty double checked their overnight bags.

“I can arrange that.” Ty smiled and pulled out a bottle of lube from the bag.

“Not that kind of fun.” Zane rolled his eyes.

Ty clutched his heart and staggered backwards, “Ouch, Garrett.”

“I meant something, not just you.” Zane laughed.

“OK then, any ideas?” Ty asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I want to go out dancing.” Zane smiled and let out a laugh as Ty's face dropped.

“Why do you do this to me?” Ty sighed.

“Please,” Zane begged like a small child, “we could be murdered any time.”

“Not funny.” Ty pointed his index finger at him.

“Please?” Zane pouted, putting on his most intense puppy dog face that he knew Ty couldn't say no to.

“Fine.” Ty broke, “Where do you propose we go then?”

“There's a new place downtown that just opened a few weeks ago. A gay club.” Zane grinned.

“Oh?” Ty laughed.

Zane nodded his head. They'd never been to a gay club together. Zane had always wanted to but knew it would take serious effort to drag Ty out to a dance club so he saved it for the perfect moment. Someone out there possibly planning to murder them in a grand style was as good a motivation as any he could think of.

“Only if I get to wear a mesh tank top.” Ty smiled.

“Never. For my eyes only.” Zane winked and protectively circled his arms around Ty's waist.

“I don't think I'll be able to take all the hot young guys staring at you.” Ty mused.

“Me? I'll be the last thing any of them are looking at with my patches of gray hair and brittle bones. You on the other hand...” Zane trailed off.

“Shut up,” Ty rolled his eyes, “anyone would be lucky to take you home.”

“Guess you're getting lucky tonight then.” Zane grinned.

“You're so cheesy.” Ty said, kissing him.

 

~*~

 

The sound of dragging chains echoed through the empty warehouse. This was going to be a tough one but if he pulled it off there would be no denying him. He looked around the wide open space and took in the sight of all of it as it started to come together. He could hear the faint cries that came from one of the back rooms, he would gas them soon enough so he didn't have to listen to them anymore. In a few hours they wouldn't have to worry about anything, they would have served their purpose.

He counted the chains just to make sure he had enough. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. All there. Ambitious, he thought, but as his mother always used to tell him, you never got anywhere in life without a little ambition.

He looked up at the open roof of the building and smiled as the dark started to creep into the sky.

“Places everyone.” He whispered to himself, taking the gas canister in one hand and the syringe in the other.

“Almost time.”

 

~*~

 

Ty shifted uncomfortably as they stood outside the entrance to the club

“Downtown?” Ty asked, flabbergasted. “They named their club that is located downtown...Downtown?”

“I'll admit it's not the most creative of names.” Zane laughed.

“This better be worth it.” Ty grumbled as they stepped up to the door.

He could already hear the thumping of music before they even stepped inside. Great, just what he loved, loud and dark places filled with hundreds of sweaty people. Zane paid the cover and led Ty thought the door and he was pleasantly surprised at what he found.

It wasn't dark or dingy, sure it was filled to the brim with people, but it was bright and colorful. Neon paint lined the walls and giant blow up fruits surfed over the crowd. The lights weren't dimmed, they were as bright as could be, and they illuminated the party going on the floor below them.

“This isn't what I expected.” Ty laughed.

“I know.” Zane smiled, “Lets find you the bar.”

“No, it's fine.” Ty smiled.

“Baby, I know you, if you even plan on having any fun you need to at least loosen up with a drink or two. It's not going to kill me.” Zane laughed.

Ty bit his lip and grimaced. Alcohol did sound good right about now, and almost mandatory so that he had a good time, but he also had grown to hate drinking around Zane. It felt unfair and mean. But Zane was determined to get him a drink, Ty slightly suspected it was part of a plan to get him liquored up up he would be extra bendy when they got home. He couldn't deny that it did sound fun.

“One Peach Bellini and a water.” Zane told the bartender with a wink.

“Asshole.” Ty shouted.

“Drink up, doll.” Zane glared, doing his best Corbin Porter imitation. It sent a chill through Ty's body.

“As you command.” Ty replied in his shaky Del Porter accent, throwing back the cocktail.

Ty quickly became acutely aware of the men that were ogling Zane. He knew his husband would get that kind of reaction, especially with his outfit. Ty watched him as he moved in his tight ripped jeans and short sleeve shirt that clung to every muscle beneath it. Zane loved self deprecation and insisting that no one would give him a second glance but Ty knew it wasn't true. Every eye in this building was on Zane as his tall frame cut through the crowd. Ty felt a small bit of jealousy curl in his stomach and stopped Zane's movement with a pull on his wrist. The alcohol was already loosening his inhibitions and he pulled Zane in as close to him as he humanly could and pressed their lips together furiously, sliding his tongue into Zane's grateful mouth and his hands protectively gripping Zane's ass. Zane was smiling as the kiss broke.

“Now they all know you're mine.” Ty purred.

Zane didn't respond, he simply grabbed Ty by the arm and pulled him to the next closest bar, ordering him another Peach Bellini. The opening notes to the next [song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RRY3OVqtwc) began to filter through the building, seductive synths that made him crave Zane all over him and before Ty realized it he was being pulled into the middle of the dance floor with his drink still in his hand.

 

_I think I see confetti from this potion_   
_Pillow fights and feathers, overdosin'_   
_Smells like a cologne and candy lotion_   
_Like a slumber party_

 

Ty felt his body pressed close to Zane as they began to move to the music, he let Zane take the lead and sweat began to form on his brow.

 

_Sheets all on the floor just like an ocean_   
_Building up your fortress like a mountain_   
_Neighbors say we're causing a commotion_   
_Like a slumber party_

 

The music was swirling around Ty and the rest of the crowd was absent from his mind. The only thing that mattered to him was Zane. Zane spun Ty's body around, pressing his hips to Ty's ass as they writhed to the music. Ty could feel Zane's hands moving up his body, tugging as his shirt as they snaked upwards and revealing his stomach to the crowd. Zane knew what he was doing, he was showing Ty off, showing everyone that they belonged to each other and just how fucking lucky they were.

 

_No, n-no, no, you and I, I, I_   
_We ain't gonna sleep tonigh-igh-ight_   
_Oh baby, no, n-no, no, you and I, I, I_   
_We ain't gonna sleep tonight_

 

Ty's body spun around again, now face to face with Zane. Ty ran his hands through Zane's growing curls, tousling it in that messy way that drove him wild every morning. Their bodies were sticky as the music swelled around them. Ty craned his neck up to slide his tongue into Zane's mouth as they danced, the salt from the sweat and the leftover taste from the drink mixing in his mouth and creating a truly unique taste. Ty felt Zane's hand on his back as he pressed him backwards and dipped him halfway to the floor.

 

_'Cause we got them candles hanging_   
_Hanging from the ceiling low_   
_We use our bodies to make our own videos_   
_Put on our music that makes us go fucking crazy, oh_   
_Go crazy, oh_   
_Like a slumber party_

 

 

Ty closed his eyes as he sped back towards Zane. He was losing himself in Zane's presence, it was magical. He wasn't going to make it all night. He needed him now.

“Lets go back home.” Ty whispered.

“We just got here.” Zane smiled.

“Don't care. I've seen enough. Want you.” Ty rasped.

“Oh really?” Zane grinned.

“Want you. On top of me. In me. Under me. Just want you.” Ty could feel himself growing harder in his jeans. If they didn't leave soon he was going to explode.

“OK.” Zane smiled and pulled Ty back out of the crowed, retreating out the door and into the parking lot to their car.

 

~*~

 

They stumbled through the door of the bookstore, Ty laughing at the fucking bell overhead, shortly after leaving the club. Zane turned back to the door to lock the store before picking Ty up by his thighs and throwing him on one of the tables in the back of the store.

“You know there's a bed upstairs?” Ty laughed.

“Can't make it.” Zane growled, already taking off his pants.

“Wait here,” Ty smiled as he ran towards the front of the store, only half dressed. When he came back he had a bottle of lube in one hand and a rubber band in another. He really hoped the lube hadn't been stashed in a random book for someone to find.

“What's this for?” Zane laughed, holding the rubber band in his hand. 

“It goes on your wrist,” Ty growled, taking it from Zane and sliding it around his wrist, “When I do this,” Ty pulled the rubber band back with his fingers and let it go and smiled as Zane winced in pain from the sharp contact, “it means fuck me harder. Fuck me faster. Every time I snap it you go faster and harder.”

“Creative.” Zane smiled, pushing Ty back onto the table and ripping his pants off, his eyes lingering on the rubber band for a second.

“Fuck me.” Ty gasped as Zane slid his already slick fingers inside his ass.

“I will, don't worry.” Zane rasped, sliding another finger inside Ty and feeling his cock throb as he screamed out.

Ty could feel the electricity jolting through his entire body, nerves firing off in pleasure at Zane's every touch. He circled his hips as Zane's fingers were inside him, trying desperately to feel even more pleasure that he should was possible.

“Please, baby, need it.” Ty gasped.

Zane's only response was to lean down and slide his tongue into Ty's gasping mouth. Ty bit and clawed at Zane's back in pleasure as he felt Zane slowly start to slide inside of him.

“Give it to me all. Now.” Ty demanded.

“That's the Peach Bellini's talking.” Zane purred.

“Fuck me harder, Zane.” Ty gruffed, searching for the rubber band on his husbands wrist, pulling it back and releasing it with a satisfying snap.

“If you say so.” Zane winced in slight surprise before slamming his cock deep inside Ty in one forceful thrust.

Ty let out an ear shattering cry, pain mixed with pleasure, as he felt Zane deep inside him. Deeper than he swore he'd ever felt Zane before. He pulled back on the rubber band again and sent another satisfying snap to Zane's skin.

Zane growled, grabbing Ty by the neck with one of his free hands, and fucking him harder than he'd thought was possible on this table. The table began shaking as he picked up speed and neither of them would have been at all surprised if they broke it.

Ty's free hand was pumping his own cock, the other roaming all over Zane's body before snapping the rubber band.

Snap. Snap. Snap. Zane picking up the pace and intensity every time. He was getting close and they both knew it.

Ty was screaming out in pleasure at every thrust.

“I'm gonna cum, Zane, oh fuck.” Ty was panting before exploding all over himself, jet after jet of cum coating his impressive body, dripping down over the rivets of his abs and onto the solid table.

The sight was nearly enough for Zane, only a few short more seconds and he would return the favor for Ty. The repeated snapping at his wrist made Zane frantic. Ty was pulling and releasing the rubber band with no care for how impossible it would be for Zane to actually comply with each demand and he loved it. As Ty pulled the rubber band back as far as he could and released it to Zane's wrist with a sharp, painful, snap, Zane felt himself release inside Ty. He collapsed forward onto the table, their bodies mixing together with cum and sweat as he gasped for air. He felt his cock slip out of his husband, still shooting everywhere, the table, the carper, Ty's skin. His knees went weak and he collapsed to the floor, every muscle in his body sore and a searing pain coming from his wrist. It was intense and he loved every painful sensation on his body.

“That was something else.” Zane laughed from his position on the floor.

“Yeah...we should go out more often.” Ty panted from the table.

“Clean this, then shower, then sleep?” Zane asked.

“You clean this, I'll so start the shower.” Ty smiled, getting off of the table and healping Zane up from the floor. He held his hand for an extra second and pulled the rubber band off of his wrist and whistled as he saw the red welts forming.

“This really fucking hurts now that the adrenaline is gone.” Zane laughed.

“Sorry,” Ty chuckled, pulling Zane's wrist to his lips and giving it a kiss, “saw it on a TV show and it looked hot.”

“It was.” Zane smiled, turning Ty around and smacking him on the ass to send him upstairs to start the shower.

"What TV shows are you watching?" Zane laughed to himself 

After cleaning up downstairs Zane made his way to the apartment above the store to join Ty in the shower. He gathered up all their clothes that were strewn about the store and threw them in a pile at the foot of the bed, not caring about the wallets or phones inside them. As a result of the precious time he spent in the shower cleaning off with Ty he missed the six calls from Clancy.

 

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 7

 

“Answer your fucking phone!” Clancy sighed to herself as she sat outside an abandoned warehouse just outside the Philadelphia city limits. She had gotten the call about another murder a little over an hour ago and had tried to reach Ty or Zane during her entire drive. It probably wasn't the safest idea trying to call two people while speeding on the freeway with the emergency lights on but oh well.

She shoved her phone in her pocked in frustration and stepped out of her car and moved towards the scene. She could already smell the acrid scent of burnt flesh before she got halfway to the warehouse. Carson had told her that the local fire department had responded to a call about a fire in an abandoned warehouse and that they had found something she needed to see. He didn't offer any more details other than telling her to get there as fast as she could.

She steadied herself before she waked through the door of the warehouse. When she finally realized what she was seeing she almost threw up on the spot.

Suspended halfway above the ground with a pulley system under the opening in the warehouses room was a mass of charred bodies strung together with chains.

“What the fuck?” Clancy whispered.

“I've seen a lot of shit over the years,” Stall sighed, “but this might take the prize for most fucked up.”

“What am I even looking at?” Clancy asked.

“Eight bodies, chained to each other, set on fire, and hoisted halfway up a building.” Carson shook his head.

“Is this our guy?” Clancy asked.

“Yep.” Stall nodded.

“How do we know?” Clancy asked again.

“Hop-Frog.” Stall said.

“Hop what?” Clancy raised her eyebrow.

“A Poe story about a dwarf who gets revenge on a king for abusing his wife. He convinces the king and seven of his court to dress up as orangutans for the court as a joke, because he's the jester, but when they get there they're all changed together and he lifts them into the air by their chains and sets them on fire, killing them in revenge in front of the kingdom.” Stall let out a long breath.

“Token?” Clancy looked around the area.

“Over there,” Carson pointed, “the monkey mask.”

“Fuck.” Clancy sighed, “This just got a lot worse.”

“Yep.” Carson confirmed.

Clancy needed to breathe, she turned and moved with a fast step back outside the warehouse and to her car.

"Zane better answer his fucking phone."

 

~*~

 

Ty stepped out of the shower, his towel hanging loosely around his waist. He watched with a smile as Zane left the small apartment and went down to the floor of the store to get bottled water for them, his ass always looked so good going down the stairs.

His thoughts were interrupted by an incessant buzzing coming from the floor. He searched around until he finally found the culprit buried beneath their clothes in Zane's pants. As he flipped the screen over he saw that Zane already had six missed calls from Clancy and his stomach dropped. Unwilling to wait any longer for Zane to return he slid his finger across the touch screen and answered the phone.

“This is Grady.” He said.

“Fucking finally,” Clancy sighed from the other end of the line, “I've been trying to call you for hours. We have a situation.”

“Sorry...we were in a movie with our phones off.” Ty lied.

“Sure.” Ty could almost hear her roll her eyes on the other end of the line.

“What is it?” He asked.

“He's back.” Clancy sighed.

“The copycat?” Ty asked?  
“Yes.” Clancy said flatly.

“So we have another body? Where?” Ty's voice raised slightly.

“More like we have another eight bodies. Warehouse in Philadelphia.” Clancy rasped.

“Eight? You have to be fucking kidding me?” Ty shouted.

“Wish I was. It's really fucked up, Ty.” Clancy's voice broke as Zane came back into the room.

“What's going on?” Zane asked.

“Hold on,” Ty said to him, “Clancy, Zane is here, I'm putting you on speakerphone. Tell him what you told me.”

Clancy briefly recapped what she told Ty and then described the scene to them.

“Jesus Christ,” Zane sighed, “eight bodies hanging from chains?”

“That's fucking terrible.” Ty sighed with his hands in his face.

“Yeah, things are about to get a lot worse. There's no keeping this small.” Clancy said.

“Can we do anything?” Zane asked.

“Fuck, hold on.” Clancy said with urgency in her voice, “Fuck, OK. I have to call you back, the Director is on the other line for me.”

Clancy hung up without another word.

“The Director...” Zane trailed off.

“This is about to get a whole hell of a lot worse.” Ty said, flopping back onto the bed and putting his arms behind his head.

They waited around to see if Clancy would call back and just as they were about to decide to go to sleep the phone rang.

“Clancy?” Zane answered.

“Sorry I had to go so suddenly. Listen, I'm going to be stuck here all night. Come by the Baltimore office tomorrow 1:30pm and we'll talk in my office.” Clancy said.

“Are you sure the office is the best place to meet?” Zane raised an eyebrow.

“Everyone will mostly be gone for lunch, Perrimore will take them out or something, I'll work it out. Just be there and bring Ty. OK?” Clancy waited for an answer.

“Yeah, OK, we'll be there. See you then.” Zane hung up the phone.

“What was that?” Ty asked.

“I guess we have to go into the office tomorrow.” Zane let out a long breath and threw himself back onto the bed next to Ty, curling his arms around him as his head rested on his shoulder.

 

~*~

 

Ty's body tensed as he pulled into the Baltimore FBI Field Office. He'd honestly never expected to set foot back in this place after the events of a few years ago. He certainly knew he never wanted to, anyway. But here he was, being pulled back into this building that had taken so much from him. He looked over at Zane and smiled for a brief moment, for all that this building took from him it did give him one thing, his husband.

“Ready for this?” Zane asked.

“No.” Ty admitted, “Gotta do it anyway thought.”

They walked through the front doors and Ty could immediately feel the eyes on him. He saw no more than 10 people in the main lobby alone that he knew.

“So much for keeping a low profile.” Ty rolled his eyes.

They walked over to the reception desk, gave their information and waited for their guest passes to be printed.

“We were expecting you two.” The girl at the desk smiled.

“How've you been, Anna?” Zane asked the girl with a smile.

“Same old, same old, glad to see you're doing well.” She smiled and handed them their passes and waved them through security.

They stood at the doors of the elevators, the elevators they had taken together almost every day for years, it was a terribly surreal feeling and Ty had a hunch that things were about to go sideways.

“We don't have to,” Zane said from next to him, clearing reading his thoughts, “we can turn around right now and never look back.”

Ty smiled at the thought.

“Wouldn't that be nice?” Ty laughed as he hit the button to call an elevator car. The door opened immediately and Ty cursed under his breath. Didn't even have a few more seconds to make up his mind.

“Maybe it's a sign?” Zane laughed.

Ty's finger instinctively found the button for the floor they needed to go to, the same floor that he worked on for years.

“Creepy.” Ty muttered.

He tensed for a brief moment but felt it melt away when Zane's hand clasped his. He laced their fingers together and gave it a squeeze.

“We're not walking into a firing squad, just a meeting with Clancy.” Zane smiled.

“Really? Then why did she want to meet here rather than the store?” Ty asked.

“She was probably just too busy with everything else to get away, two birds with one stone.” Zane shrugged.

The elevator doors opened and they stepped into the long hallway, scanning their guest passes through doors as they went. When they got to the glass door of their old unit they both froze. Everything looked exactly the same. None of the desks had moved, same chairs, phones, computers, carpet.

“This feels a lot more surreal than I thought it would.” Zane laughed.

“Yeah.” Ty said, swiping the pass up to the door and waiting for the electronic beep and green light to signal the door was unlocked.

They walked through the rows of desks and Ty stopped suddenly. He looked down and realized he was standing in front of his old desk. It was certainly better organized and there was a new nameplate on it but it was his desk.

“Wait.” Ty said softly to Zane who was still walking ahead of him. Zane stopped and turned back around, smiling at Ty as he watched him.

Ty pulled out the chair and took a seat in front of the desk. He rested his elbows on the flat surface and began to pick through the occupants things. Nothing quite as fun as he once had on his desk. He sighed and rolled the chair back even further, throwing his arms behind his head and propping his feet on the familiar desk. He turned his head to Zane and smiled.

“I didn't know I missed that sight until just now.” Zane laughed, taking out his phone and snapping a picture of Ty.

“Weirdo.” Ty muttered, taking his feet off the desk and standing. He looked at the cup of pens on the desk and glanced over his shoulder to make sure they were alone. With one swift move he knocked the cup over, sending pens barreling all across the desk.

Zane barked a laugh.

“That make you feel better?” Zane smiled.

“A little,” Ty shrugged, “desk was too neat.”

Ty once again stepped in front of Zane and walked to the familiar door that had once been Dan McCoy's, then Zane's and now read Special Agent In Charge Michelle Clancy. He knocked on the door.

“Come in.” Clancy called from beyond the door. Ty could hear a faint edge of nervousness in her voice.

Zane looked at him and nodded as they pushed the door open and stepped in together.

Ty's suspicions were confirmed when he saw Clancy standing off to the side in her own office. He looked at Zane who was about read to say something when the chair at her desk turned around.

Ty's heart almost dropped out of his body as he looked at Dan McCoy sitting in his old chair, his hands laced together in a fist in front of him, staring at both of them.

“Hello boys,” McCoy said, “thank you for meeting us here.”

“McCoy? What the fuck is going on?” Ty snapped. He was tense and ready to fly off the handle. His shoulders relaxed as Zane placed a soothing hand on his back.

“That would be Director McCoy to you, Grady.” McCoy sighed, “Nice to see you haven't lost your charm. Sit down, the both of you, we have a lot to talk about. “

 


	8. Chapter 8

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 8

 

Zane sat in the chair across from McCoy. It was a strange feeling being back in this office. He'd sat on both sides of that desk before and now he was an outsider with no idea what was actually happening. He was acutely aware of Ty vibrating next to him, with both anger and curiosity. McCoy had never been Ty's favorite person, especially after the ultimate he gave when they'd outed themselves, and now that he was the director of the entire fucking FBI? Well, he was afraid Ty might find himself with federal charges before the meeting was over.

“You lied to us.” Ty spat at Clancy.

“Agent Clancy had direct orders from me to do so.” McCoy calmly stated.

“Still love fucking with people's lives, huh?” Ty asked.

“Tyler.” Zane whispered.

“Don't 'Tyler' me, Garrett.” Ty spat at him with actual anger.

Zane felt a visible wince go through his body, he knew Ty saw it from his immediate apology afterwards.

“Sorry...” Ty trailed off.

“It's fine. Just hear him out.” Zane said, placing a hand on Ty's knee in both comfort and open defiance to McCoy who was visibly uncomfortable with the display. It just made Zane grip Ty tighter.

“How can we help you, Director?” Zane asked, trying to at least be diplomatic.

“I know you're aware of the murders.” McCoy glanced at Clancy who turned her head away.

“It's not Michelle's fault.” Zane said, beginning to defend her.

“Don't worry about Clancy, she'll be fine, I'm not seeking any disciplinary action against her. As long as you help.” McCoy threatened.

“You piece of shit.” Ty spat, halfway rising out of his chair before Zane pulled him back down.

“What can we do? One retired FBI agent and one who quit when you forced him to?” Zane asked pointedly.

“I never asked Grady to quit, he did that on his own.” McCoy smiled.

“Because you forced our hand.” Ty glared at him.

“There's no sense in drudging up the past.” McCoy shrugged.

“Again I ask: what do you want?” Zane took a moment to collect himself before opening his eyes.

“You're coming back.” McCoy said simply.

“The fuck we are!” Ty shot out of his chair this time and slammed his hands on the desk.

McCoy didn't move a muscle.

“Ty, please sit down.” Zane said calmly.

Ty turned to him with rage in his face but gave a weak smile and sat back down, crossing his arms over his chest and slumping in the chair. “You do the talking then.” Ty gave up.

“In case you didn't remember, I'm retired.” Zane smiled.

“I'm not hiring you back full time, just for this case. The Tri-State Copycat.” McCoy said.

“Nice name, real original.” Ty rolled his eyes.

Zane and Clancy both had to suppress a snicker.

“I know you've worked as a consultant for Clancy here before a few times.” McCoy smiled.

“Just crunching numbers and looking at some paperwork as a favor, not fully in the field and investigating. I didn't even know you could do that.” Zane sighed.

“It's rather unusual,” McCoy agreed, “but not without precedent. It can be enacted in times of need when one or more former agents could be seen as vital to a case.”

“Of course!” Ty laughed, “You want to use us as bait.”

Zane narrowed his eyes, McCoy didn't refute the claim.

“You're bait either way, clearly this guy is doing this to get your attention. He might as well had dumped the bodies at the front door of your bookstore for crying out loud.” McCoy sighed.

“So then why do you need us?” Zane asked.

“Because I'm doing you a favor. I'm giving you a chance to actually do something about it, to help the investigation instead of just getting shadowy reports from the SAIC over there. Make yourselves useful instead of waiting around for more people to die so a psychopath can say hi to you.” McCoy spat.

“You coulda just led with that.” Ty rolled his eyes.

“I seem to recall you telling us we couldn't work together, it was a liability.” Zane said.

“Shut up, you know it's different now, Garrett.” McCoy sighed, “You and I both know that if you and Grady were in the field together back then you would have sacrificed yourself or some other agent, hell even the fucking job just to save him. Both of you would have done the same for the other.”

Zane couldn't say anything. He'd like to think something like that wouldn't happen but god knows the countless amount of times they risked everything for each other before they came out.

“So why now?” Ty asked, “Why is it OK now?”

“Because you won't work for me after this case.” McCoy laughed. “I've already spoken to the team handling this case, three SAIC'S and three other agents, another one of your friends, Perrimore. They all agree to it and know what they'd be getting into. Though Carson has his doubts, you'll just have to win him over with your sparkling personalities.”

“We'd love to help, but we have other commitments.” Ty shrugged his arms.

“I'm well aware of your other...commitments.” McCoy narrowed his eyes.

“Excuse me?” Zane asked.

“May we have the room, Clancy?” McCoy turned to her and smiled.

“You're kicking me out of my own office?” Clancy asked in shock.

“Yes.” McCoy said flatly.

“Yes sir.” She growled and left them alone.

“I'm aware of your CIA affiliation.” McCoy said plainly.

“So much for secret agent.” Zane laughed.

“You learn a lot when you become the director of the FBI.” McCoy shrugged.

“Don't forget how you got that job.” Ty spat.

“You mean by you and your friends running illegal operations on American and foreign soil that led to the destruction of the Colombian Cartel in Miami and the revelations that Assistant Director Burns was a real piece of shit? And the fact that it all fell on the old director? And the fact that since I was the last boss the two psychopaths who brought him down had I was recommended for the job?” McCoy laughed.

“You've turned into a real piece of fucking work.” Ty shook his head.

“Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Zane mused, narrowing his eyes at McCoy.

“Listen, I called in a favor I've been saving for decades to get you two on to this. You're off of CIA active duty and doing whatever the fuck it is that you two do for them until this case is over or you're dead.” McCoy shrugged.

“Real piece of work.” Ty laughed again, shaking his head.

“You start tomorrow. Clancy will get you your badges and guns. Welcome back to the family.” McCoy said, shooing them out of the office.

 

~*~

 

Ty barreled through the office door, leaving McCoy in a wake of dust and curse words behind him. His eyes immediately caught Clancy.

“I'm sorry...” Clancy began.

“I don't want to fucking hear it!” Ty shot at her.

“Oh no, fuck no Grady, you're not talking to me like that.” Clancy yelled.

“You just fucking railroaded us!” Ty shouted.

“I had no choice. There's things called orders. Did you expect me to lose my job for you? Actually, you probably did because you seem to think your friends are only around to be your personal fucking army whenever you need.” Clancy's face was turning red and she was near tears.

“Low fucking blow.” Ty screamed.

“Low blow? Are you fucking kidding me? Do you not remember that I ran face first into a god damn war for you? Two of my best friends, men I'd worked with for years, died because we were all dedicated to your fucking cause. We didn't blink a single eye when you both asked us to help you. I got kidnapped by the Cartel, shot by Zane, beat the fuck up, almost died in an explosion. Lassiter DID DIE. Alston got himself burned alive to protect your fucking paper trails. And you want to sit there on your high horse with all your fucking righteous indignation because I lied to you about a meeting? Because McCoy said something that hurt your precious feelings? Give me a god damn mother fucking break.” Clancy took a deep breath, her face had almost turned purple from the lack of oxygen during her tirade.

Ty was stunned into silence, probably one of the only few times in his life he couldn't even form a snappy comeback. When she put it like that she had a point. A really big fucking point with flashing neon arrows pointing it out.

“What about you,” Clancy snapped and turned to Zane, “you have anything to add?”

Ty turned his head slowly to look at Zane who had leaned himself against his old desk, mostly probably on pure instinct and habit.

“I would say that we go elsewhere to continue this conversation, I don't want to give McCoy anymore satisfaction over hearing us try to tear each other apart.” Zane sighed.

“Come with me, I'll take you to get your badges and service weapons.” Clancy ran her hands through her thick red hair before tossing it over her shoulder and motioning for them to follow her.

They continued their walk down the corridors of the building in silence, none of them willing to say anything else in fear of another knock down and drag out verbal sparring match. Ty kept glancing at Zane who was predominantly focused on the floor in front of him, Ty could tell he was following the path through the building on muscle memory alone. The one time their eyes did catch each other Zane's small smile and silent mouthing of 'I love you' went a great way to sooth Ty.

Twenty minutes later they both had their FBI badges and service weapons. Ty felt extremely odd and uncomfortable. He fixed his eyes on his badge and studied it like it was an alien creature. None of it felt right and no one, least of all Zane, could blame him if he didn't completely trust the FBI and their reasoning's behind this being that it spent the better part of a decade trying to kill them. Clancy dismissed them and left to retreat to her office.

“I'll meet you here tomorrow and show you to where the team meets.” She sighed, “Be here by 7am.”

Ty still couldn't find it in his heart to speak to her, instead simply turning and walking away.

“OK,” Zane said, “We'll talk more tomorrow.”

Ty didn't bother to turn around to find out Clancy's reaction but he heard the sincere promise in Zane's voice. Ty walked ahead by himself for a few moments until he felt Zane's figure behind him. Ty turned his head around and didn't bother trying to mask the look of utter defeat on his face.

“I don't like this.” Ty admitted.

“Me either.” Zane frowned, “But at least we have each other.”

Ty smiled and nodded as Zane pulled him into a tight hug and kissed him, right in the middle of the main lobby for everyone to see. That would give them something to talk about, Ty thought with a silent laugh.

 


	9. Chapter 9

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 9

 

“You want to talk about it?” Zane asked Ty who was sitting next to him in the passengers seat slumped down and visibly angry.

“What's there to talk about? You already know I'm pissed about having to go back.” Ty grunted.

“I'm not talking about the job, I'm talking about Michelle.” Zane sighed.

“Oh.” Ty mumbled.

“She said some pretty heavy stuff.” Zane offered an opening.

“Fuck yeah she did and fuck her for saying it.” Ty straightened his body and looked at Zane.

Zane knew his face gave away his true feelings about the confrontation.

“Wait,” Ty began, his voice growing, “you think I'm in the wrong?”

I didn't say that...” Zane trailed off.

“You didn't NOT say it thought!” Ty called out.

“I think she made some valid points and I think she also let her anger get the better of her and said stuff she didn't mean.” Zane sighed.

Zane closed one eye and braced himself for an attack, he'd been preparing to have this fight with Ty ever since his confrontation with Clancy ended. Instead, Ty let out a defeated breath and sank back into his seat.

“What do you think her valid points were?” Ty asked quietly.

“Are you asking because you want to know or because you want ammunition to fight me with?” Zane asked cautiously.

“Because I want to know.” Ty turned his face to Zane and he could tell instantly that he was sincere.

“Well, I think she was right in saying that sometimes we expect our friends to go to fight with us without a question. Most of it stems from yours and Sidewinders undying loyalty but I'd be lying if I said I never wondered if some of them actually didn't want to fight all our battles with us.” Zane said.

“OK, continue.” Ty replied.

“I also think that she wasn't off base when she mentioned Lassiter and Alston. You'd worked with and known them for how many years? I wasn't with you guys for half of those yet when I was in trouble they all stepped up to help and sacrificed their lives for us. She's lost friends because of us, I shot her, and she's never once used it against us.” Zane sighed.

“Until now.” Ty pointed out.

“True,” Zane conceded, “but tensions are already running high and she was kicked out of her office because she can't know we're in the CIA so who knows what she thought we were saying without her, I think she just snapped and said what she thought would shut you up.”

“Well it worked.” Ty frowned.

“I don't agree with how she delivered it though. You're not a sanctimonious ass. And given your history I didn't really appreciate all the war metaphors.” Zane frowned.

“I overreacted at her, she couldn't control that situation any more than we could. She just wanted to knock me down a peg. And she did.” Ty sunk even further into his seat.

“Ty, look at me.” Zane commanded, “You didn't need to be knocked down a peg. We were both pissed off about being lied to. Talk to her tomorrow, I know she'll apologize, you can apologize if you want, and we'll work together to find this son of a bitch and then get back to our lives.” Zane smiled and pulled Ty's hand to his.

“OK.” Ty smiled, “Love you.”

“Love you too, baby.”

 

~*~

 

Zane threw himself down on the bed when they got back to the apartment above the store. He was exhausted, emotionally and physically. He could feel himself drifting off to sleep but he knew he wanted to wait for Ty to make sure he was really OK. He could use a night of just holding Ty close to him to ease the tension they both felt. It needed to be an easy night because of what they had to face tomorrow.

He felt himself nod off just as Ty came in the door.

“Hey sleepyhead.” Ty smiled, his voice sounding distorted.

“Did I fall asleep?” Zane asked sheepishly.

“For a little while.” Ty smiled.

“Shall I go now?” Zane asked?

“What?” Ty laughed.

“Nothing.” Zane shook his head, “Come here.”

“Let me get out of these clothes first.” Ty grinned and connected his phone to the charger that doubled as a speaker. He hit play on the first song that popped up and gave Zane a devilish grin. Slowly pulling his shirt over his head as the [music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8G6OchNroY) floated through the room.

 

_Shed my skin since you came in,_   
_Where do you end and I begin?_   
_Awoke my senses yet you stopped time,_   
_You took me to a deeper high,_   
_The essence of my hopes and fears,_   
_Creation of my muddled dreams_

 

Ty rolled his hips as he undid his belt, sliding it through the loops of his jeans and pulling it out from around him. He swung it around his head like a lasso once or twice and then let it drop to the ground. His jeans were riding dangerously low on his hips without his belt, falling just below his Adonis belt and allowing the top of his pubic hair to poke teasingly out.

 

_Cowboy Style,_   
_With a peaceful smile,_   
_You are from the temple_   
_Won't you stay a while_

 

Ty slowly undid the button to his jeans as Zane watched. They fell to the ground, almost in slow motion, leaving Ty standing there in nothing. Fuck Zane loved it when he went commando.

 

_Found my voice to have my say,_   
_You take me close to far away,_   
_And now I find and now I feel,_   
_The ordinary is surreal,_   
_Peace and terror all in one,_   
_My future life has just begun_

 

Ty crawled on top of him, pushing him back towards the bed and pinning him under his strong and muscular thighs. He ran his hands up Zane's body, pushing his shirt upwards and running his tongue over Zane's exposed skin. Zane closed his eyes as Ty's hands ran buck up his body and through his curling hair and under the pillows. Zane opened his eyes as he felt something cold slide over his body. When his eyes focused he saw Ty, straddling on top of him, pointing a gun in his face.

“I have to get you before you get me. I'm sorry.” Ty closed his eyes and pulled the trigger.

 

~*~

 

Zane bolted out of bed and to the other side of the room in sheer panic. His eyes focused on Ty who was sitting in bed with his bedside lamp on reading a book.

“Zane?” Ty got out of bed and walked towards him, placing a hand on his arm.

“Don't touch me!” Zane yelled, smacking Ty's hand away from him.

Ty jumped backwards, his eyes wide with surprise and fear.

“OK,” he held his hands up as a sign of good will, “I'm sorry. I won't touch you.”

Zane closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before walking back to the bed and opening his bedside drawer and pulling out the brand new bound leather journal and fountain pen.

“What time is it?” Zane rasped.

“Uh,” Ty looked at his phone, “11:45.”

“OK,” Zane was speaking out loud, “December 29th, 11:45pm.”

He began to write in the book.

_It wasn't real. It was just a dream. It wasn't real. It was just a dream. It wasn't real. It was just a dream. It wasn't real. It was just a dream._

He filled two pages worth, front and back, of the notebook before he spoke. He looked up and saw Ty sitting at the edge of the bed away from him, as far as he possibly could be while still being on the bed.

“Sorry.” Zane sighed.

“Don't be, I get it.” Ty smiled.

“I didn't mean to hit your hand away like that.” Zane frowned.

“I know, I don't hold it against you. Wanna talk about it?” Ty asked.

“Nightmare.” Zane sighed.

“I figured. How did I die this time?” Ty smiled.

“You didn't.” Zane put the journal back into the drawer and closed it, laying back down in the bed and motioning for Ty to curl up next to him. He needed to feel him.

“Huh?” Ty asked, slightly confused, as he crawled next to Zane and rested his head on his chest and began to draw absent minded circles on his belly.

“You killed me.” Zane huffed.

“That's a new one. Explains not wanting me to touch you.” Ty nodded his head.

“One minute you were stripping for me and crawling on top of me while you were naked and the next you were holding a gun to my face and telling me you had to get me before I got you. Then you pulled the trigger and I woke up.” Zane could feel tears forming behind his eyes and he inhaled sharply to ward them off.

“Sounds like dream me, or your subconscious as my brother would call it, is getting tired of dying and decided to take care of you first.” Ty laughed.

“It's not funny.” Zane frowned.

“I know,” Ty sighed, “You know I'd never do anything to hurt you though.”

“I know, it just seemed so real,” Zane's voice cracked, “I guess we're even now. I killed you once and you killed me once.” Zane forced himself to laugh.

“Guess so.” Ty smiled and pulled himself closer to Zane, “Think you can sleep?”

“I think so.” Zane sighed.

“OK. I'll stay here all night.” Ty smiled and reached over to turn off his bedside lamp and took his permanent place cuddled into Zane's side for the night.

Zane smiled and turned his lamp off before wrapping one arm around Ty and letting the other play with his hair before falling back into a dreamless sleep.

 

~*~

 

“This feels weird.” Ty said, patting his holster under his suit jacket the badge in his pocket.

“Feels less natural than I thought it would.” Zane agreed.

Ty paced back and forth in front of the entrance to the field office. He didn't feel like going back inside, not after yesterday, so he convinced Zane that they should wait outside for Clancy.

“You're going to wear a hole into the ground if you keep doing that.” Zane laughed.

“Not my problem.” Ty shrugged as he kept walking his bath back and forth.

They both looked up as they saw the door open and Clancy stepped outside.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, you could have waited inside.” Clancy smiled.

“Didn't feel like going in there. It's a nice day out anyway.” Ty said with little emotion.

“Where are we heading?” Zane asked.

“Up to Philadelphia, I'll show you the crime scene and then we'll head to the lab to find out if they leaned anything new. And I'll introduce you to the team. Perrimore is already up there.” Clancy said.

“Field trip.” Ty muttered.

“You can ride with me, or follow me, whichever you want.” Clancy shrugged.

Zane was silent so Ty spoke up.

“We'll follow,” Ty said flatly, “lights or no lights?”

“Lights would be faster. I figured you'd want to follow so checked you guys out a bureau SUV, here are the keys.” Clancy tossed him the set of keys, “should be on the first level of the garage.”

“You check it to make sure it wont blow up?” Ty asked, his eyes digging at her.

“Yes. I had it swept.” Clancy smiled.

“Sarcasm or not?” Ty raised an eyebrow.

“Not. I remember what happened to your car in New York. I wasn't going to take any chances.” Clancy smiled.

“Oh, well, thank you.” Ty gave her a quick half smile before turning and walking past Zane and towards the parking garage.

“Baby steps?” Zane whispered with a shrug as he followed after Ty.

 

~*~

 

The drive to Philadelphia passed quickly with Zane behind the wheel, their tour of the crime scene didn't amount to much as it had mostly been cleared out by now, everything that they'd wanted to see was at the lab in the Pennsylvania filed office anyway, which was their next stop.

They scanned their ID's through the machines at the entrance and watched as several curious eyebrows raised upon seeing them. Zane wasn't delusional enough to think that people knew about them outside of Baltimore but he knew better than that. Stories of the married male FBI agents who took down the Vega Cartel had been circulating in the agency for years and he had to admit it was slightly amusing to see people finally able to connect names and faces with stories. He gave Ty a kiss on the cheek as people watched, if they were doing this it would be done their way and he didn't give a damn about what people thought. They wouldn't even have this job after this case.

They followed Clancy down several long corridors, Zane had to admit that nothing really felt different about this place compared to the Baltimore office. They both held the same, staunch, formal feeling to him. It was a feeling he forgot how much he'd grown to hate over the years.

Zane was thankful that the first face he saw when he stepped into the lab was Perrimore.

“Freddy!” Zane laughed, pulling the man into a hug.

“God damn, Garrett and Grady back on the job. Never thought I'd see the day.” Perrimore laughed, returning the hug to Zane and sticking out a hand for Ty to shake.

Ty rolled his eyes and pulled Perrimore into a hug.

“Good to see you too, Freddy.” Ty smiled.

Zane looked up from their reunion and saw the faces of four people he'd never met before. Now it was time to get into the awkward first meetings.

“Gentlemen,” the oldest man in the room said upon standing and smoothing down his suit, “welcome to the Philadelphia field office. I'm Special Agent In Charge Bradly Stall.”

“Nice to meet you, sir.” Zane said.

“What he said.” Ty sighed, point to Zane.

“I'm glad to see the tales of your...disposition do not go unfounded.” Stall smiled, “This is Christina Fowler, my best agent.”

“It's an honor to meet both of you, I've heard so much.” The raven haired woman smiled.

“Flattery will get you everywhere, darlin'” Ty winked.

Zane saw the girl shiver under Ty's gaze and he rolled his eyes, extending a hand out to flick Ty in the back of the head.

“Asshole.” Ty grumbled at him.

“Don't mind him.” Zane rolled his eyes again.

“Working with a married couple is going to be...interesting.” Fowler laughed.

“Oh no,” Clancy sighed, “they were like this well before they got married.”

“So when they were fucking?” The blonde man asked from the back of the room.

Zane felt his body stiffen and his eyes reflexively went to Ty, expecting to see him in attack mode, and was pleasantly surprised to see him smiling.

“Pretty much.” Ty shrugged.

Zane's eyes went back to the blonde man who was clearly unprepared for Ty's lax response. Zane smiled, it was clear he was trying to get under Ty's skin, to test him and the stories he'd heard, but Ty knew it and didn't break a sweat.

“Course we were also taking down serial killers, smugglers, terrorists, poachers, CIA agents, and traitors all while we were fucking so maybe that had something to do with it.” Ty winked at the blonde man and smiled when he heard Clancy laugh in the background.

“This asshole is Alex Carson, SAIC of the Pittsburgh Field Office.” Clancy pointed to the man without a grand gesture.

“And vehemently opposed to this plan.” Carson said, scowling at them.

“Guess you got outranked kid, time to tuck the homophobia back into the closet until we catch this guy for you.” Ty grinned.

Carson squared his shoulders back and for a second Zane was sure he was going to attack Ty. He looked back at Ty and saw the smug satisfaction at the mans reaction on his face. Ty was enjoying this, almost a bit too much.

Zane took a minute to study Carson, his eyes scanned the man once over. They'd met once, years ago, before he'd even met Ty but Zane doubted that Carson remembered him. Their eyes caught for a brief moment and Zane saw something flash behind them but couldn't quite make out what he was seeing before he was interrupted by Ty again.

A snicker came from behind Carson who turned around to glare at the man behind him.

“And who are you, Sir laughs-a-lot?” Ty asked the man.

“Special Agent Jackson Grant, pleasure to meet you.” The man coughed.

“Well,” Zane started, “now that we're all acquainted...bring us up to speed.”

They recapped everything that Zane had already learned about the first murder. He didn't start paying attention until they got to the next set.

“We ID'd all the victims from the second scene. They were all wealthy and all have been listed as missing for the last two weeks. Two from Delaware, three from Maryland, and three from Pennsylvania making up our eight bodies. From a first glance nothing connects any of them together. As far as we can tell none of the people from the same states knew each other.” Stall said.

“All that mattered was that they were rich.” Zane said.

“Huh?” Perrimore asked.

“The murder was based on Hop-Frog. Hop-Frog killed a king and seven of his wealthy friends to show that they couldn't get away with whatever they wanted or hurting Trippetta just because they were royalty.” Zane said, “Henninger didn't seem like he really cared about staying true to the soul of the story, as long as they somewhat fit the bill and the bodies were disposed of in a way that mirrored it then it was good enough for him. The copycat seems to want his victims to match their counterparts too. It's why he didn't just find eight homeless people and set them on fire. He went after the wealthy for a reason. And the twins, they didn't have the best relationship, right?”

“No, they constantly fought.” Fowler said.

“The twins in Usher secretly hated each other. He needs to match more than just the aesthetics.” Zane let his hands rest on the table and looked over at Ty who was smiling brightly at him.

“Impressive, Agent Garrett.” Stall smiled.

“He reads a lot.” Ty shrugged.

“Please, just call me Zane or Garrett even, Agent Garrett is just a formality of the circumstance and not a title I want.”Zane sighed.

“Very well, Garrett.” Stall said.

“Anything come back on the forensics?” Ty asked the group.

“We should hold off until out last guest gets here.” Carson said.

“There is no other guest.” Clancy said.

“I made a judgment call and called in someone who owed me a favor. They have experience with the first case too.” Carson shrugged.

“I thought McCoy wanted this kept small?” Ty raised his eyebrow.

“The director told me I could call in anyone I saw fit. I just got word they're in the building.” Carson said as the door opened, “Speak of the devil.”

Zane turned in his chair and his jaw dropped when he saw the last person he'd ever expected to see walk in. Across the room from him stood Serena Scott, her long blonde hair cascading down her shoulders. He hadn't seen her since that night in New York years ago.

“Oh, it's the devil alright.” Ty sighed as he let his head fall to the table.

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> back to back uploads again, make sure you get in chapter 9 before 10!

 

Chapter 10

 

"Zane." Serena smiled.

"Hello, Serena." Zane grimaced.

"Who invited Satan?" Ty asked.

"Nice to see you too, Tyler." Serena's voice came out as smooth as silk but there was an undeniable venom behind her words.

"We needed someone to come in and take a look at this from a profilers perspective, Serena worked on the original case a bit and volunteered her time when she learned about what was happening." Carson said.

"You have me here, you don't need another profiler." Ty protested. 

"Yes dear, but you're not an FBI agent anymore." Serena rolled her eyes.

“There's no telling how rusty you'd be, Grady. You haven't done this in years.” Carson said.

“You don't know shit about what I have or haven't done.” Ty growled.

“Exactly, which is why I brought in someone I knew I could count on.” Carson rolled his eyes.

Zane leaned into Ty, “Please tell me this isn't what I sounded like when I convinced you to meet with her in New York.” Zane laughed.

“No,” Ty glared at Carson, “You weren't nearly this pathetic.”

“Boys, can we please get along.” Serena cooed.

“I didn't sign up for this,” Ty said and looked at Zane, “neither of us did.”

“That's life.” Carson shrugged.

“Whatever, knowing Serena she'll stay for five minutes before getting annoyed at how much work she has to do and then bail.” Ty rolled his eyes.

“And here I've been thinking that my wedding invitation just got lost in the mail a few years back.” Serena laughed.

"Post office probably flagged it cuz of the anthrax." Ty muttered under his breath. Zane chuckled, seemingly the only one who heard him, and gave him a smile.

“No, you just weren't invited.” Zane smiled.

"Aren't you two just so cute together. A far cry from the two men I had dinner with all those years ago." Serena laughed.

"Things change," Ty stared at her, "but I guess you wouldn't know much about that."

Serena began to protest but was cut off by Clancy. 

"Can we please stop acting like we're in fucking high school and just do our jobs?" Clancy sighed. 

"Fine with me." Ty grumbled. 

"I assume you've looked over the murders so far?" Zane asked. 

"Yes," Serena sighed, "two murder scenes and already ten victims. This guy isn't playing around." 

"What makes you say that?" Clancy asked. 

"The spectacle of it all." Serena said, "There's no no denying that these killings have been grand but when you compare it to the original string of murders it stands out pretty obviously. The original killings all had a sense of exhibition to them but the only two that were truly done to make a statement were, unsurprisingly, the two that were done just to get the attention of these two." She pointed at Ty and Zane.

"OK..." Clancy said, motioning her to continue. 

"The first one, the flight attendant that Grady..." Serena trailed off, "she was killed to send a message, including the way her body was handled."

Zane instinctively circled his arms around Ty's waist.

“Watch it.” Zane warned.

Ty still had nightmares about that sometimes and Zane knew it would always weigh heavily on his conscience. Zane adjusted himself as Ty leaned into his embrace even deeper.

"The second one was the one that served as your welcome back party. The old man who was chopped up. Those two murders were the only ones that stuck out with how grisly and how much of an impact they had." Serena finished.

"OK. So what does that mean now?" Zane asked, his arms still around Ty.

He saw Serena give their position a once over and roll her eyes.

"The two killings so far have been grandiose statements. He cut twins in half with a band saw and basically dumped them in your backyard for god sake. Then he chained eight people together, hung them from a warehouse ceiling and burned them alive. He wanted to get the attention of both of you. And look where you're sitting now. It worked." Serena sighed. 

"So you're saying that you think all these people are dead because of us?" Zane asked, the pain in his voice evident.

"That's my best assumption, yes.” Serena said flatly. 

"She's got a point." Carson said.

"I know." Zane sighed.

"I could have told you that." Ty protested.

"Probably. But it's more fun to see you sweat." Serena grinned. 

"So what next?" Zane asked, "We don't have any leads, no forensics, we don't know who this guy could even be."

"We dig into Henninger." Clancy said.

"It's the only lead we have. Maybe we'll find someone in his past, someone he shared his secrets with." Carson shrugged.

"Sounds like a wild goose chase to me. He had no family, his parents died when he was young, no siblings. Trust me, I've gone through his file thousands of times." Zane said.

"Do you have any better ideas?" Carson rolled his eyes, “He could have shared his secret with any number of psychos he met in his life. We need to look as deep into him as we can.”

"Get me the files on all the victims, I want to go over them and see if anything matches up." Ty said.

“We've already done that.” Grant said.

“You did, but I didn't.” Ty said flatly.

"I'll have someone make copies for you before you leave." Fowler smiled.

"Just how much authority do these two have?" Serena asked, narrowing her eyes.

"As much as they need." Clancy snapped, "And those words come straight from the directors mouth."

"Still inspires so much confidence after the mess they've made. Impressive." Serena laughed

Zane saw Ty tense, ready to make his next move.

"I think it's best that we split up, cover more ground.” Perrimore said, trying to diffuse the room.

“Good idea.” Carson said, “Grady, Fowler, Perrimore, Stall, I say you go get the files on all of the victims while the rest of us head to personnel and try to find what can can on the late Agent Henninger.”

“I'm not leaving Zane.” Ty protested.

“Seriously?” Serena laughed.

“Yes.” Ty glared at her.

“It's just the other side of the building.” Carson rolled his eyes.

“The last time we went to opposite sides of the building while hunting a serial killer someone tried to blow my husband up with a computer. I'm not leaving him.” Ty was defiant and Zane smiled.

“This is exactly why they don't let married couples work together.” Carson growled.

“McCoy doesn't give a fuck what you think and neither do I,” Ty smiled, “we go together. Everywhere. Split yourself off according to that.”

“I have no objection to Grady's terms.” Stall said, “Grady, Garrett, Fowler, Perrimore, and I will go to personnel, we need my access to get in there anyway. The rest of you go round up all the files and we'll meet back here after lunch with everything.”

The entire room was silent, exchanging tense glances around at each other and not moving.

“Dismissed.” Stall said, standing from the table and rounding up his group.

 

~*~

 

“What the fuck was the director thinking?” Carson yelled, “They're going to get us fucking killed.”

Clancy shook her head and rolled her eyes. He was being unusually childish.

“I'll give you the benefit of the doubt because you've never worked with them but those two are the greatest agents I've ever worked with. I trust both of them with my life and I'd put mine on the line for them.” Clancy said.

“Thank that makes you as crazy as them.” Serena laughed.

“Maybe,” Clancy glared at her, “but I'd rather them have my back than you.”

“Excuse me?” Serena spat at her.

“Spare me, Serena.” Clancy pointed at her, “Everyone knows how you operate. You can go around peddling your story about how Grady eats his partners alive or gets them killed but everyone knows you're the one with the partner problem. Why do you think you've worked solo for the last decade? Because no one can stand to be around you.”

“I did not bring her here to have everyone gang up on her.” Carson shot off.

“No, you brought her here to have someone on your side because of whatever hang up you have with Ty and Zane.” Clancy narrowed her eyes at him.

“I never realized how much of a bitch you were.” Carson sighed.

“And I never realized how much of a misogynistic and homophobic asshole you are.” Clancy laughed.

“We're all going to kill each other before any serial killer gets to us.” Grant sighed.

 

~*~

 

Zane looked up from Henninger's file when the door to the lab swung open. He could immediately tell there was a tense air around the group. His eye's caught Michelle's and he raised his eyebrow. She sighed and brought a fake gun to her head and pulled the trigger. Zane heard a laugh from behind him and found Ty watching them.

“Break for lunch?” Zane asked the room.

“Please.” Fowler laughed.

“Sure.” Stall said, waving them off.

“Grady, Garrett, Perrimore,” Clancy held up he hand and snapped her fingers, “let's move, we're getting burgers.”

“Sounds good to me.” Ty stood and stretched.

“I wasn't invited to lunch with the clique, I'm so sad.” Serena yelled after them, rolling her eyes.

They were silent as they made their way through the building, no one speaking until they exited.

“I will trade you ten serial killers for one of her.” Ty sighed.

“I almost killed her, and Carson, on our trip to get those files.” Clancy put her face in her hands.

“What happened?” Perrimore asked.

“They were just being dicks and it pissed me off. Saying stupid shit about Ty and Zane. I'm the only one that gets to be mean to you two, dammit.” Clancy laughed.

“I appreciate you standing up the the bullies, mom.” Ty smiled and put his hand on her shoulder.

“Ty,” Clancy sighed, “God I'm so sorry about yesterday. My stress level just peaked and I snapped on you and I said some fucked up things, I've been beating myself up about it.”

“Apology accepted,” Ty smiled, “but some of the stuff you said was true. I take the both you and Freddy for granted and I'm sorry. Some of it was just fucked up though.”

Clancy laughed and punched him in the chest.

“This makes me so happy!” Zane smiled.

“Don't be weird, Zane.” Ty glared.

“I don't like when you two fight!” Zane laughed.

“Shut up and go get us food, you're paying.” Clancy laughed as they all walked away from him.

 

~*~

 

When they returned from lunch they noticed someone missing from the room.

“Where's Serena?” Ty asked.

“She left, said there was nothing else for her to do here.” Fowler shrugged.

“Typical.” Ty rolled his eyes.

“Maybe if you weren't such an ass to her she would have stayed.” Carson narrowed his eyes at Ty.

“Her staying is the last thing I wanted.” Ty laughed.

“She added nothing,” Clancy agreed, “she was just here to be annoying. None of what she said was anything new.”

Ty saw Zane and Perrimore look at each other and shrug.

“The four of you together are terrifying.” Grant laughed.

The rest of the evening passed without them making much headway. The only thing of note that forensics had found was the same small traces of dirt from the first crime scene but they were no closer to locating it's origin.

“There's no sense in you two staying here any later than you have to,” Clancy said to Ty and Zane, “you should head back to Baltimore. Meet me in the office tomorrow and we'll go over stuff on our end.”

“You sure?” Ty asked.

“You're useless sitting in a room and doing nothing, Grady.” Clancy laughed.

“Tomorrow is New Years Eve,” Zane added, “think he'll try something?”

“I hope not,” Carson sighed, “I want to go out and drink.”

Ty rolled his eyes and grabbed Zane by the hand.

“Come on, let's leave so they can talk about us when we're gone.” Ty glanced over his shoulder as they walked out of the room. He saw Carson eyeballing them so he pulled Zane close to him and gave him a passionate kiss just for extra measure.

 

~*~

 

They were halfway home and Zane could feel himself growing more and more tired as the road stretched on in front of him. It was an unusually quiet night on the freeway, they'd only passed a handful of cars on their journey so far. Zane glanced over and saw Ty playing around on his phone.

“Having fun?” Zane asked, trying to keep his brain working.

“Trying to invade Nick's castle and blow it up.” Ty said without a hint of irony in his voice.

“How's it going?” Zane asked with a smile.

“Not that well. Irish bastard has some good defenses.”Ty growled.

He focused on the road more intensely as he saw the motorcycle approach from behind them, he always tried to be as aware as possible when he saw another cyclist on the road. He watched in the rear view mirror as the bike sped up and weaved into his blind spot before flying past them going easily twice the legal speed limit. Once he was confident it was out of range he turned his attention back to Ty.

“Broke down one of his walls but the fucker had a dragon waiting inside. A dragon, Zane!” Ty was outraged and it was adorable.

Zane let his gaze linger for one second too long before his eyes returned to the road and he slammed on the breaks. The bike that had just flown past them was now laying in the middle of the road, the motor still running and the lights flashing on and off.

“What the fuck, Zane?” Ty yelled before he looked up and saw what was in front of them.

Zane studied the scene, it had all the makings of a trap.

“I know you're not thinking about getting out.” Ty gave him a side eye.

“Someone could be hurt.” Zane trailed off.

“Just drive, Zane. I'll call someone.” Ty said.

Zane didn't move the car fast enough. Before he could react he saw a figure in the rear view mirror. The rider of the bike, clad in all black and a dark helmet covering his face. He raised the gun in his hand and opened fire onto the SUV.

 

 

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

 

 

 

 

Chapter 11

 

“Get down!” Zane yelled, he pushed Ty as far down in his seat as he could as he struggled to put the car into drive. The bullets pelted the car and Zane could hear the back window shatter.

“Fuck it.” Zane gritted through his teeth and threw the car into reverse and slammed his foot on the gas.

The car jumped backwards and began flying down the road towards their assailant who jumped out of the way just in time to avoid being hit by the car.

“Zane, get the fuck out of here before he decides to start round two.” Ty hissed from the floorboard, clutching his gun in his hand.

Zane noticed a reflection from the passengers side window and shifted the car into drive and slammed his foot on the gas just as more gunshots rang out. He turned the emergency lights on and drove as fast as he could, constantly checking the rear view mirror for a sign of the motorcycle.

“I don't think he's following us.” Zane said after about fifteen minutes.

“What the fuck was that?” Ty spat.

“I think we've been formally introduced to our killer.” Zane shook his head.

“I need to call Clancy, ask her if anyone left after we did.” Ty said.

“You don't think it's someone on the team?” Zane asked.

“I'm not ruling anything out.” Ty said, pulling out his phone and dialing.

Ty put the phone on speaker and she answered on the first ring.

“Clancy.” She answered.

“Michelle, do not react to anything I'm about to say.” Zane said calmly.

“OK.” She said, not missing a beat.

“Is everyone there with you now?” Ty asked.

“Yeah.” She said.

“No one left after we did?” Zane said.

“Nope. Everything is accounted for, the paperwork is on my desk. You didn't misfile something did you?” Clancy sighed.

“Someone just attacked us on the road. A guy on a motorcycle. Staged a fake accident and then lit up the SUV. He doesn't seem to be following.” Ty said calmly.

“Oh my god. I'm going to kill him. It took me forever to put that report together. I'll just have to deal with it, whatever. Is everything good on your end?” She asked with a faint hint of worry in her voice.

“We're fine. Neither of us were hit. The guy had a helmet on so we couldn't see him.” Zane said.

“Don't drive back alone. Take Perrimore with you. Tell him everything when you're alone. And be safe. Call us when you get back to the city.” Ty added.

“OK. For sure. I'll make sure to call him first thing and get him started on it since I'm still going to be out of the office. Thanks for updating me. Take care.” She said before she hung up.

“She's good at that.” Ty laughed.

“Yeah,” Zane smiled, “and now we know that no one on our team is trying to kill us.”

“Yeah, some of them are just plain regular assholes and not murdering assholes.” Ty laughed.

“What do we do about this car?” Zane sighed.

“Drop it off and let them deal with it.” Ty shrugged.

“We can't just leave a bullet ridden SUV sitting in the parking lot of an FBI building, Ty. There's all kinds of paperwork involved!” Zane had one hand on the wheel and the other gesturing like crazy.

“I'm not doing any paperwork, Zane.” Ty laughed, “What are they gonna do, fire me?”

 

~*~

 

Ty laid back in the bed in the apartment. They'd been home for two hours now and just received the call from Clancy they were waiting for.

“At least we can sleep now that we know she's alive.” Zane sighed.

“Yeah.” Ty smiled.

“How mad do you think she's gonna be when we tell her we just left the car in the parking lot all fucked up like that?” Zane laughed.

“She'll be fine.” Ty smiled, “It could be worse. We could be dead.”

Ty rolled over onto his stomach and looked Zane in the face as they lay next to each other. Ty reached his hand out and started to drag his fingers up and down Zane's back. It was odd feeling the scars on it tonight. He'd gotten the scars during their first trip to New York during the Tri-State Killer case and here they were all these years later investigating someone who was copying it.

“You're thinking about the scars on my back.” Zane surmised with a smile.

“How could you tell?” Ty asked sheepishly.

“You're lingering on them.” Zane laughed.

“Sorry,” Ty blushed, “it's just weird thinking you got them on the case that someone is now copying.”

“Hey, I just realized we broke the streak tonight.” Zane laughed.

“What streak?” Ty raised his eyebrow.

“We almost made it two years without someone trying to kill us!” Zane barked a laugh.

“It's been so long since someone shot at me, I forgot what it felt like.” Ty scrunched his face in confusion.

“I can't say I missed it.” Zane shrugged.

“I'm fine until things start blowing up. I've had enough explosions.” Ty sighed.

Zane laughed and pulled their bodies close, placing a soft kiss on Ty's lips and running his hands through his hair.

“You think you'll be OK tonight?” Ty asked.

“Hmm?” Zane hummed.

“Nightmares.” Ty said, “Seems like someone trying to kill you could trigger them.”

“Dunno.” Zane sighed, “If I do I'll be fine, I have you here after all.”

They drifted to sleep in each others arms after a few more minutes of cuddling and kissing and no nightmares followed either of them.

 

~*~

 

Serena paced back and forth waiting for him to show up. She was pissed. She'd tried calling multiple times but didn't get a single answer. She'd already delayed her flight to meet him on the promise that he had something for her.

“Where the fuck are you?” She sighed out loud to herself.

This was just her luck. First Carson calls her in on this fucking copycat case, then she ends up having to be around Ty and Zane for an uncomfortably extended period of time, and now she was stuck here fucking waiting on the off chance that she could actually break this case open. She wanted to be the one to get the credit for this if only to rub it in Ty's face. The sound of movement startled her and she instinctively reached for her gun as she turned. Her face softened when she realized he'd finally made it.

“Call a girl up in the middle of the night telling her you have something big and then make her wait for an hour?” Serena laughed.

She was so comfortable that she didn't have time to react when she saw the syringe he pulled out of his pocket. All she could do was widen her eyes as she felt the needle pierce her skin before she drifted off into unconsciousness.

 

~*~

 

 

Zane opened the store for a few hours early in the morning, front for the CIA or not they still had to make a profit and all these days spent closed were starting to add up. Zane heard the bell about the door ring as his face was fixed on a computer screen making orders.

“Welcome to Brick and Mortar.” Zane absentmindedly called out.

“Excuse me,” a soft female voice interrupted his concentration, “are you Zane Garrett?”

Zane looked up at the girl standing in front of him. She was pretty, Asian, with long black hair that was straight as straw and Zane had to guess she was around 28 years old or so.

“The one and only, can I help you find something?” Zane asked.

“Sorry,” the girl laughed, “so rude of me. Let me introduce myself. My name is Renne Nigh, I'm a reporter for the New York Daily Global.”

“New York,” Zane raised his eyebrow, “what brings you to Baltimore?”

“You...and your husband. I want an interview.” She smiled.

“What on earth could you have to interview us about?” Zane played dumb.

“The Tri-State Copycat, obviously. My bosses would die if I got an interview with the original FBI agents who got the first guy.” She beamed.

“Listen, Miss Nigh, I don't know where you're getting your facts but there's no interviews to give.” Zane shrugged.

“First, it's misses.” she laughed, holding up her left hand and showing off her ring, “Newlywed. Second, I know there's no official paperwork or statements for you or your husband, your then partner, but it doesn't take a genius to piece together all the official reports, ambulance and hospital records and all of it points to the two of you with flashy neon signs.” She leaned into the desk, offering a challenging stare.

“Like I said, there's not much of an interview to give. I just run a bookstore.” Zane turned his back to her.

“Listen, it can be anonymous, I just got off a plane, rented a car, and drove straight here. You have to give me something, don't send me back empty handed.” The girl sighed.

“Tell you what,” Zane smiled, “look around the store, pick out a book, and it's yours. That way it wasn't a waste of a trip.”

The girl was about to protest as Zane's phone chimed. He looked down and saw it was a text from Clancy.

“If you'll please excuse me, Misses Nigh, I have to take care of matters with a friend. And I also have to close early today, sadly.” Zane smiled,

The girl shook her head, tossing her hair every which way.

“I'm here until Wednesday and I'm not giving up.” She warned, turning on her heel and walking out the door.

Zane shook his head, following her out and locking the door behind her. He flipped the sign to close and turned to head back tot he apartment.

“Ty,” Zane called out from the bottom of the stairs, “the weirdest thing just happened. You're never going to believe it.”

“What?” Ty asked, looking up from his position on the floor.

“Wait...what are you doing.” Zane laughed, looking down at Ty, sprawled on his stomach and furiously reaching under the bed.

“Cricket won't come out from under the bed. It's pissing me off.” Ty sighed, “What did you want to tell me?”

“Some girl just came in, said she was from some paper in New York and wanted to interview us about the copycat.” Zane shook his head.

“Wait, what the fuck?” Ty asked, shocked. “How does she even know we were involved in the original?”

“Said she had police reports, ambulance logs, a whole bunch of stuff that easily connects us to the whole thing. Make's sense, I guess. The FBI just got rid of our official involvement but not all the auxiliary paperwork.” Zane shrugged.

“I guess it wouldn't take a detective to figure it out. What did you say?” Ty asked.

“Told her I had no idea what she was talking about then made her leave. Clancy texted.” Zane said.

“What did she say?” Ty asked.

“Said she'd tell us when we got to the office.” Zane sighed, saying that still felt weird.

“We really have to go there?” Ty sighed.

“Mhm.” Zane hummed.

“I'm not wearing a suit.” Ty protested.

Zane rolled his eyes and laughed at him.

“What're they going to do?” Ty asked, “Fire me?”

“Is that your new saying?” Zane laughed.

“Can't help that it fits.” Ty shrugged.

“You have a good point,” Zane let out another laugh, “I'm not wearing one either.”

“Stick it to the man!” Ty yelled and forced Zane into a fist bump.

 

~*~

 

Ty braced himself as they stepped into Clancy's office.

“You left an SUV full of bullets sitting in the parking lot.” She said flatly with her eyes glaring at them.

“Technically we left it in the secure parking garage.” Ty defended himself.

“I'm sorry,” Zane sighed, “We were exhausted and shaken up and I don't even know what the correct protocol is. We don't work here, but we do. Do we do the paperwork or does someone else? None of it makes sense.”

“It's fine, I've already taken care of it. I'm just glad you two are alive. What the fuck happened?” Clancy leaned back in her chair.

“We were driving, this motorcycle zoomed past us and a few miles later up the road it was laying in the middle of it, I nearly ran it over. Then the rider came out from behind us and started firing into the vehicle.” Zane said.

“From behind?” Clancy questioned.

“Mhm,” Ty hummed, “weird right?”

“Very weird. Assuming he just planned a quick ambush he still could have come at you from either side for a more guaranteed hit. From behind there's so many more variables like glass, seats, distance.” Clancy sighed.

“I don't think he wanted to kill us. He wanted us to know he was following us. That he knew we were back.” Zane said.

“Zane tried to back the car over him.” Ty laughed.

“I wouldn't have expected anything less.” Clancy smiled.

“The lab get anything off the shells?” Zane asked.

“Nope. They don't come up to anything that's registered. Shocker.” Clancy sighed.

“Didn't find anything else last night?” Ty asked.

“Nope. Nothing seems to connect them, they're all from different states, different jobs, the only thing I could think of is that he's purposely choosing them because they're not alike.” Clancy shrugged.

“That's the most valid theory I've heard so far.” Zane smiled, “Anything on the dirt?”

“They've narrowed it down some but unless they get a new sample it's as best as it's gonna get.” Clancy shook her head.

“So we're waiting for someone else to die and hope that there's some dirt left over?” Ty asked with a twisted look on his face.

“Pretty much.” Clancy frowned.

“That's fucked up.” Ty grimaced.

“Anyone heard from Serena?” Zane asked.

“Carson said he talked to her when she got back to her hotel room last night, nothing since. I think she left.” Clancy rolled her eyes.

“Did I piss in Carson's Wheaties or something that I'm not aware of?” Ty threw his hands in the air.

“He really doesn't seem to like us.” Zane sighed.

“I was crossing my fingers when Zane called that you would say Carson left after we did which would mean he was the killer and tried to kill us and then I could kill him.” Ty smiled.

“Old wounds. He's jealous of you two. And a little homophobic which makes it worse.” Clancy rolled her eyes.

“Jealous?” Zane asked, raising his eyebrow.

“He had a partner years ago and they fell madly in love. They hid it for almost three years until they were found out and she was transferred. They tried to stay together but the distance made it almost impossible. Then a year later she was on an operation with her new partner, some domestic terrorism thing, and she died.” Clancy sighed.

“Do you know what year this happened? The year his partner died?” Zane asked.

“God, uh, 2007, October I think?” Clancy said.

Damn. Zane felt a wave of realization go over him that he knew he had to hide before Ty noticed. He wasn't quick enough.

“Why do you ask?” Ty questioned Zane.

“No reason, just wondered if it was something I'd remember hearing about.” Zane lied and tried to dodge any further questions. This wasn't the time or place to go into more detail with him.

“Shit.” Ty lifted his head and looked at Zane with a frown.

“He never got over it and he never stopped blaming himself. And then everyone heard about you two when it all went down and now you're back and working together, at the behest of the director no less, so he's kinda just being a piece of shit.” Clancy shrugged.

“At least it makes sense now.” Zane frowned.

“Bullshit,” Ty spat, “fucked up stuff happens to all of us. Doesn't make it right for him to act like that.”

“Never said it did, doll.” Zane smiled.

“Happier subject!” Clancy interjected, “What are you doing for New Years tonight?”

Ty looked at Zane and shrugged, they hadn't really planned anything special.

“Not really in the partying mood.” Ty sighed.

“Yeah. Probably just order something in and watch the ball drop at the store and find someone to kiss at midnight.” Zane winked at Ty. “You?”

“Zero plans and zero people to kiss.” Clancy laughed.

“Wanna come over and spend the whole night hoping no one gets murdered with us?” Ty smiled and looked at Zane.

“I figured you'd have plans or you'd be working but if you want to spend it with us you're more than welcome to.” Zane grinned at her.

“Sure, why the hell not?” Clancy laughed, “I can live vicariously through you two.”

“Come over around eight?” Zane asked.

“Sounds like a plan. Want me to bring anything?” Clancy asked.

“Just your winning personality.” Ty grinned at her.

 

~*~

 

Zane ambled through the aisle of the supermarket with Ty in step behind him. Shopping with Ty was always an experience, one he liked to shopping with Sadie or any other small child who threw anything they thought they wanted into the cart without caring. Zane gave up trying to stop Ty from getting whatever he felt like around three years ago so now when he got to the checkout he never knew what he would find.

“Did you get the dip?” Zane asked.

“Mhm.” Ty hummed.

“Are you sure? I don't see it in the cart.” Zane laughed.

“Positive dad, it's probably under something else.” Ty corrected him.

“If you say so.” Zane shook his head and started to the checkout line where he discovered that Ty did not, in fact, get the dip.

“I swear I put it in here!” Ty defended himself.

“It's OK, I'll just go run and grab it, you keep loading the stuff on.” Zane shook his head.

“You're not going by yourself.” Ty protested.

“Ty, we're in the grocery store. I'm not going to run into a serial killer on aisle three.” Zane rolled his eyes.

“You don't know that!” Ty yelled as Zane walked away from him.

“If I'm not back in 60 seconds call in the national guard.” Zane laughed.

Zane was half jogging through the grocery store, dip in his hand, when he ran face first into a strong chest and fell flat on his ass.

“Oh my god, I'm so sorry!” Zane said as he stood up and dusted himself off.

At first all he saw was two men who were standing together with their arms linked. They were both in very good shape, low cut T-shirts showing off the beginning of their pectoral muscles and veiny biceps sticking out under the sleeves. Not the warmest of outfits for winter but whatever worked for them.

“Zane?” One of the voices asked him, a familiar voice.

“Dr. Asher?” Zane asked, voice full of surprise.

“That's me.” Dr. Asher smiled, his arm still intertwined with the man next to him.

Zane had never seen Asher in anything outside of a suit and he had to admit that Ty was right, he was really fucking hot and so was the man he was with. The man! Asher was gay! Zane's thoughts were flying a mile a minute.

“God, I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going.” Zane laughed and bent down to pick up the dip off the ground.

“Must be some good dip.” Asher laughed.

“It would have been an even better dip if Ty put it in the cart in the first place.” Zane rolled his eyes.

The man next to Asher coughed.

“Oh, how rude of me.” Asher laughed. “Zane, this is my husband, Damien.”

Zane knew his eyes went wide.

“Husband? I didn't realize you were...” Zane stopped when he heard himself speaking.

“Ryan's never mentioned you before, how do you know Zane?” Damien said, turning his face to Asher with an eyebrow raised.

“Oh god, I'm a patient. A married patient!” Zane defended himself from the unheard accusation.

He wasn't making this awkward situation any better though it did suddenly make sense why Zane found Dr. Asher by searching a directory of therapists who advertised as openly friendly to gay and lesbian men and women.

“Well, then I'm glad I've never heard of you!” Damien laughed, bringing a lighthearted mood back to the circle they were in.

“Zane!” Ty's voice rang from down the aisle, “If you're laying dead in one of these aisles I'm going to kill you!”

Shit. He'd forgotten about his promise to Ty.

“Ty? I'm over here!” Zane yelled out as Ty came around the corner pushing a cart full of bagged and paid for groceries.

“You're lucky I brought my wallet in with me, I had to pay because you didn't come back!” Ty rolled his eyes.

“Sorry, I uh...ran into Dr. Asher.” Zane mumbled.

“Quite literally, actually.” Asher laughed as Ty turned his head towards him.

“Oh, hi, didn't see you there.” Ty said, his eyes darting between the two men standing across from Zane.

“Ty,” Zane said, “This is Damien, Dr. Asher's husband.”

“Husband?” Ty raised his eyebrow.

“Yes. It's quite the scandal.” Asher joked.

“Damien, this is my husband, Ty.” Zane said.

“Ah,” Damien said with a smile, “you two are cute together.”

Ty and Zane laughed in unison.

“I am going to have to talk to Ryan about having such hot patients though.” Damien joked.

Zane felt himself go red and saw Asher shift uncomfortably.

All Ty could do was laugh.

“I was going to tell Zane he needed to find an uglier therapist too so maybe it will all work out.” Ty smiled as he and Damien burst into a fit of laughter.

Zane and Asher's eyes met and they both shook their heads in apology for their counterparts.

“We should probably go pay for this and get out of here before they think you're stealing stuff.” Zane laughed to Ty who shrugged.

“It was uh...nice seeing you. And meeting you, Damien.” Zane said as they walked away.

“Yeah.” Asher sighed, “I'll see you next week.”

Zane nodded and walked away a little faster, eager to leave the weird energy behind him.

“You think it's a HIPPA violation to have a foursome with your husband, a patient, and his husband?” Ty asked Zane with a wink.

Zane froze in the middle of the aisle and felt his skin go hot.

“Do not even joke about that, Beaumont.” Zane whispered.

“Who said I'm joking?” Ty grinned and poked Zane in the ribs. “They're hot.”

Zane didn't give Ty the reaction he was playfully digging for, he was too embarrassed to even be jealous.

“Come on, baby. Can we at least watch them?” Ty said following after him.

Zane stopped and pulled a bad of chips off a nearby shelf and threw them at Ty who responded with a laugh.

“Time to find a new therapist.” Zane groaned.

 

~*~

 

It was ten minutes to midnight and Ty had spent most of the night teasing Zane about Asher and his husband in front of Michelle. He was so much fun to wind up like that sometimes that Ty couldn't resist. It was even better when Clancy joined in.

“Keep it up and I'm kissing Clancy at midnight.” Zane warned.

“What if I wanted to kiss her?” Ty protested, swinging his champagne around.

“There's more than enough of me to go around, boys.” Clancy joked, slightly slurring her words.

Ty was glad he wasn't the only tipsy one. Both he and Clancy had protested the drinks at first but after Zane's continued insistence on the grounds that it was a holiday they both indulged and finished off two bottles between the two of them.

“I'm sure you've thought of it, you pervert.” Ty teased her.

“I don't need to think of it when I've heard you guys fucking at least five times.” Clancy rolled her eyes. “You two are never as quiet as you think you are.”

“At least we're having sex!” Ty shot back at her like a third grade child.

“I'm glad my two favorite people are so loving and mature.” Zane sighed, scooping a chip into the dip and crunching it in his mouth.

“I am having plenty of sex!” Clancy countered.

“Oh really, then why are you spending New Years Eve with two married men?” Ty rolled his eyes.

“I had sex two days ago thank you very much! I'm not an addict like you two!” Clancy threw a dip covered chip at Ty.

“Can we please try not to stain the store carpet?” Zane begged.

“And who was your unfortunate conquest?” Ty asked, not seriously.

“Carson.” Clancy shrugged.

Zane and Ty both choked on their respective drinks.

“Excuse me?” Ty yelled.

“Michelle!” Zane gasped.

“You fucked Carson? You traitor!” Ty shouted.

“Oh shut up! He's an asshole but he's a hot asshole!” Clancy defended herself. “It wasn't even the first time!”

“Oh my god! I feel so betrayed!” Ty threw his hands up in the air.

“How long has this been happening?” Zane laughed.

“We had a one night stand a few months back and then the other night we were looking over the case stuff in my office and one thing led to another and we had sex.” Michelle laughed.

“You had sex in your office?” Ty yelled.

“On my desk?” Zane gasped.

“It's not your desk anymore, asshole.” Clancy rolled her eyes.

“I'm so jealous!” Zane cried.

“What?” Ty snapped his head. “If you're talking about Carson we're done.”

“No! Do you know how badly I wanted to fuck you on that desk?” Zane whined like a child.

Ty collapsed into a fit of laughter.

“I never did because I just assumed the FBI had a hidden camera in there!” Zane frowned.

“I...never thought of that.” Clancy said, her eyes going wide.

“Well you haven't been shipped off the a black site by now so I think you're clear.” Ty laughed.

“Clancy...” Zane trailed off.

“No! No fucking way!” Clancy stood up and pointed her finger at Zane.

“Come on!” Zane pleaded.

“No! I am not letting you fuck Grady in my office!” She yelled.

Ty collapsed back to the floor, rolling on the ground in laughter as Jiminy and Cricket watched them from afar.

“Shit! The time!” Zane said.

Ty's head flicked to the TV. The ball was already dropping and the countdown had begun.

“20 seconds!” Ty scrambled to his feet to get to Zane.

“What about me?” Clancy yelled.

“Go kiss a cat!” Ty shouted and he hopped on Zane's lap.

“10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2...”

Ty pressed his lips to Zane on what would have been one but instead of the sound of cheering and fireworks from the TV there was only silence. Silence and darkness.

“Um.” Zane said with his lips against Ty's.

“Happy New Year?” Ty questioned.

“I think the power went out.” Clancy laughed from somewhere in the darkness.

 

~*~

 

The outage occurred at the exact time it was supposed to. He needed the darkness to cover the movement.

He rowed the boat up to his destination and tied it off on the metal railing. He pulled himself over with his gloved hands before reaching back down into the boat to grab the body, pulling it over and laying it on the metal ground next to him. The rest of the tools were unloaded and he went to work.

He dipped the brush into the thick red liquid and began to paint his intricate artwork on the cold metallic surface. He had to move quickly, he only had ten minutes or so, but it had to be perfect. He finished the painting with only a few minutes to spare. She was posed perfectly held into place by a nail gun that gave a satisfying thunk as she was secured to the surface. After the job was done the tools were loaded back into the boat that had been untied, kicking the vessel off. He gave one last glace back at the masterpiece and watched as her fine blonde hair blew in the wind. It was beautiful. He couldn't wait until they found this one.

The lights came back right on time just as he had finished loading the vehicle and he smiled as his small car made the expertly practiced turns to avoid the reactivated security cameras. 

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 12

 

The buzzing was driving her insane. And it certainly wasn't helping her fucking headache. She rolled over and grabbed the phone, answering without even looking at the caller ID.

“Hello?” Clancy rasped, even the sound of her own voice hurt her head.

“Clancy?” The voice boomed into her ear.

She winced and held the phone as far away as she could before putting it on speaker.

“Yeah? Who is this?” She mumbled.

“It's Carson, where the fuck are you? I can barely hear you.” Carson said.

“I'm in bed. What's up?” Clancy asked.

“You need to get down to the harbor.” Carson said.

“The harbor? Baltimore Harbor?” She asked.

“Yes. Call Grady and Garrett, get them here too.” Carson said.

“I'm with them now.” Clancy sighed, pulling herself off the couch on the second floor of the bookstore and walking up the stairs to knock on the apartment door. “What's up? Why are you here?”

“There's been another murder. Get here. Fast.” Carson said before hanging up.

“Fuck.” She sighed and began to bang on the door.

No one answered.

“Guys, get the fuck up, now. Emergency!” Clancy yelled as the door swung up.

“What the fuck?” Ty asked sleepily, standing there in just his underwear that were on backwards.

“We need to go, now. Get dressed. There's been another murder.” Clancy sighed.

“What? Where? What happened?” Zane called from inside the room.

“Don't know what happened but it's here. The harbor. We need to be out the door in two minutes.” She said, closing the door and running to the bathroom to make sure she didn't look to terrible. She thanked herself for thinking in advance and bringing a change of clothes so she wouldn't have to show up to a crime scene in a bright pink shirt and jeans.

 

~*~

 

Zane pulled the car up to the harbor and it was a fucking mad house. Reporters had already descended to the area, they stood in clusters off to the side, cameras rolling and trying to catch anything they could.

The three of them got out of the car, flashing badges as they went along until they found Fowler sitting on the ground with her head in her hands.

“Fowler, what happened?” Zane asked.

She shook her head and pointed towards the boat that was docked off to the side.

They walked over to the boat and flashed their badges again.

“We've been waiting for you, get on.” The driver said.

“Where are we going?” Ty asked.

“The harbor light.” The man indicated.

“The body is on the harbor light?” Clancy raised her eyebrows.

The three of them boarded the small speed boat and zipped from the dock to the harbor in a little over a minute. They walked around the perimeter of the deck and froze when they reached the scene.

“Oh my god.” Clancy gasped, holding her hand to her mouth.

“Is that...Serena?” Zane breathed.

Ty couldn't find any words as he looked at the scene.

Serena Scott was held to the wall of the lighthouse. She was dressed in a spotless white dress and her body was as pale as it could possibly be. Her blonde hair blew in the wind and mingled with the blood behind her.

The fucking blood, Ty almost threw up.

Behind her body the walls were painted in what he assumed was her blood. Ornate angle wings were behind her as if they were protruding from her body and below her feet a landscape of flames were.

“What the fuck?” Ty finally said.

“Annabel Lee.” Zane said with no emotion.

“What?” Carson asked from behind them, startling all of them and making them jump.

“It's Annabel Lee, the poem.” Zane said to him.

“I don't get it.” Clancy sighed.

“It was many and many a year ago, in a kingdom by the sea, that a maiden there lived whom you may know by the name of Annabel Lee” Zane repeated from memory, “This is the closest thing to a kingdom by the sea.” He said, gesturing to the building and the ocean around them.

“OK. What about the...artwork?” Clancy asked.

“With a love that the winged seraphs of Heaven coveted, her and me.” Zane said.

“The wings.” Ty nodded his head.

“And neither the angels in Heaven above nor the demons down under the sea can ever dissever my soul from the soul of the beautiful Annabel Lee” Zane sighed.

“And the flames.” Ty shook his head.

“You know that entire poem by heart?” Carson asked.

“It was one of my mothers favorite poems.” Zane said with a frown.

Ty could see the hurt in his eyes and walked over to him, circling his hand around his waist to hold him close. Ty looked up and caught Carson giving them a glare. He shook it off, this wasn't the time or the place.

“I just fucking talked to her.” Carson sighed with his hands in his face.

“This isn't your fault, Carson.” Clancy said as she crossed to him and put her hand on his shoulder.

“I know it's not.” Carson spat, “It's theirs!”

Ty looked on is shock as he realized that Carson was pointing at him and Zane.

“Excuse me?” Ty gasped.

“Some fucking psychopath is out here murdering people to get you two to notice him and now he fucking took one of our own. One of our own who wasn't with us because you two didn't like her and didn't want her help. All of this is on you.” Carson screamed, turning away from them and jumping on to the boat.

Ty watched as the boat pulled away, leaving them alone on the small structure with Serena's body.

“Do we have a cause of death yet?” Zane asked the CSU officer.

“Too early to say officially but unofficially? Blood loss.” The man said indicating to the two deep cuts on both of her femoral arteries.

“Fuck.” Clancy sighed, hanging her head over the side of the railing.

“Get that boat back here,” Ty said, his breath hitching, “I can't say here any longer.”

 

~*~

 

Four hours later their entire team sat in a conference room at the Baltimore field office. Zane was staring at the wall, trying to forget what he'd seen, when Clancy came in the room.

“I've got the report.” She said with a frown.

Zane looked around the room and at it's occupants. Stall and Fowler sat at one end of the table not speaking much. Carson was by himself in the corner of the room, silently looking at the floor. Grant sat a few seats down from him, watching him silently. Perrimore followed Clancy in and sat down next to Ty.

“What do we know?” Zane asked.

“Cause of death is blood loss. The killer...drained her body. There isn't a drop of blood left in it.” Clancy sighed.

Zane saw Carson's head shoot up from the side of his vision.

“She had the same paralysis inducing drug in her body, but there were also traces of Propofol, he kept her asleep for it.” Clancy said taking a seat at the table.

“So the blood at the scene?” Fowler asked.

“It was hers.” Clancy said.

“Do we have a time of death?” Stall asked.

“They're still working on that, the body being drained and her he being out there all night is making it tough. They have the time that she was placed out there based on the state of the dried blood though. Midnight.” Clancy shook her head.

“Midnight? During the city wide blackout?” Ty asked.

“Which brings me to my next point. It wasn't an accident. The electrical grid was hacked.” Clancy leaned back in her seat.

“Wait.” Zane said in disbelief, “You're telling me that the killer hacked the entire city electrical grid to kill the power for twenty minutes so he could put her body up there? That's insane.”

“I'm just telling you what I know. It's not a coincidence.” Clancy shrugged.

“Are they tracing the hack?” Stall asked.

“They've got the best on it trying but it was bounced around so many times. This guy is good. Zane, maybe you could look at it?” Clancy asked.

“Yeah.” Zane shook his head.

“The dirt, was there any?” Ty asked.

“Yes.” Clancy nodded, “They're working on it now. If they get it figured out we'll be their first call.”

“I can't just stay here and wait.” Carson shouted, slamming his chair into the wall as he got up.

“No one goes anywhere alone.” Stall ordered.

“Fine,” Carson spat, “Grant, you're with me. Lets go.”

Ty watched as both the men left the room with no idea where they were going.

“So what do we do now?” Ty asked.

“We wait until we have something concrete.” Clancy said.

“I'm gonna go down to the cyber division and take a look at this hacking stuff.” Zane stood from the table.

“I'm coming with you.” Ty said after him.

“It's just tech talk, you'll be bored to death. I'm in the building.” Zane smiled.

“Too many computers around to blow up. I'm going with you.” Ty insisted.

“Fine.” Zane laughed, “Let's get a move on then.”

 

~*~

 

Zane couldn't do a single thing about the hack. None of it made sense to him. They'd give up on spending the rest of the day at the field office and headed home around 6pm. Zane was tired of sleeping above the store. He missed his home, his big bed, the kitchen. He convinced Ty that they needed to go back to the row house and melted when Ty finally agreed. They made a quick stop at the apartment to grab their things and the cats and the made their way back home.

“I missed you, house.” Zane sighed as they walked through the door. He walked over to the wall and kissed it just for good measure.

“I'm sure she missed you too, baby.” Ty smiled.

“My nice big bed, kitchen, the shower. Oh god, I forgot how much I missed the shower.” Zane moaned.

“Want me to join you?” Ty asked as he flopped to the couch.

“No, I want it all to myself.” Zane laughed as he went upstairs to shower.

“I'm coming with you to sweep the house.” Ty groaned as he got back up from the couch.

“Really Ty?” Zane laughed.

“There are three stories of perfect killer hiding space here, Zane.” Ty grunted.

“Fine.” Zane pulled his gun out of the holster, following Ty's lead, and they swept the house from top to bottom. When Ty was fully convinced that the house was murderer free he allowed Zane to take a shower. What Zane didn't expect was for Ty sit on the counter the entire time he was in the shower.

“Told you I'm not leaving you alone. You wont let me in the shower then I'll wait outside of it.” Ty huffed.

“Whatever you say.” Zane rolled his eyes as he turned the water on and let out a moan as he felt it his his skin.

“Having fun?” Ty asked.

“Loads.” Zane laughed.

“Hey Zane?” Ty said quietly, Zane could barely hear over the shower.

“Yeah doll?” Zane asked back.

“Do you think this is all our fault?” Ty asked.

“No.” Zane replied quickly, “We can't control this. This guy may be doing this because of us but it's not our fault. Don't listen to Carson and do not beat yourself up, promise me."

“But Serena would still be alive if we hadn't kicked her out...” Ty trailed off.

“You don't know that. He could have grabbed her any time she was alone.” Zane stuck his soapy head out of the shower and smiled at Ty.

“I didn't like her but...fuck she didn't deserve to die.” Ty frowned.

“I know, doll. Try not to think about it.” Zane said.

“Don't take this the wrong way...but you don't seem all that broken up about this.” Ty said softly.

Zane turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, standing naked in front of Ty before grabbing a towel and running it through his growing hair.

“It's not that I don't care, I do, but there's nothing I can do at this point. I can't mourn like she was a close friend. I want to find the fucker who killed her, and all those other people, and take them the hell out but I can't change anything after the fact. It might sound cold but...god grant me the serenity to accept the things I can't change.” Zane furrowed his brow and Ty didn't speak.

“Are you judging me right now?” Zane asked.

“No.” Ty said with a smile.

“Promise?” Zane asked.

“I promise. I was just thinking I wish I could feel that way.” Ty frowned.

“No you don't.” Zane said, “Trust me. I wish I could feel the way you do. Feeling like this is terrifying sometimes. It feels very dark not being able to empathize with someone's death if I don't love or care about them.”

Ty smiled and walked towards Zane and pressed a kiss on his damp chest.

“Sometimes I wonder if I'm a latent sociopath or something.” Zane sighed.

“You might be a sociopath.” Ty kissed his chest again, “But you're my sociopath.”

 

 

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two more back to backs, not including the one from earlier in the morning. dont skip around ect ect

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 13

 

Zane had just gotten off the phone with Clancy, being updated on the nonevents that had occurred since yesterday, when the bell above the door rang. He looked up and recognized the face that was standing in front of him.

“Misses Nigh.” Zane said flatly.

“I saw you yesterday, at the harbor.” She smiled.

“Did you?” Zane asked.

“Saw you flash a badge too.” She raised her eyebrow, “Both of you.”

Zane turned and saw Ty had come down the stairs and was watching them.

“Who's she?” Ty asked.

“This is the reporter I told you about the other day.” Zane smiled.

“Listen, I can either print that two former FBI agents were at the site of another FBI agents murder, walking around and flashing badges, or you can give me a statement.” She shrugged.

“I'm really going to need you to stop coming into my store and throwing around all this nonsense.” Zane said with a slight edge in his voice.

“You really should just pack up and go back home. That tabloid piece of shit you work for can't be paying you enough for this. And yes, you can use that as a direct quote.” Ty said as his cell phone rang and he stepped away to answer it.

Zane recognized it as the dedicated ringtone he had for Clancy.

“Hey Ma.” Ty said into the phone, “No, yeah, I'm in the store right now.”

Smart. Zane smiled. Playing it off since the reporter is standing in the room, no doubt analyzing his every move.

“Wait, what?” Ty gasped into the phone, “You really found it?”

Zane raised his eyebrow.

“No, stay, we'll come to you. Give us a few minutes.” Ty hung up the phone and walked over to Zane with a quick step.

“Lady,” Ty turned to the woman, “You're going to have to get out of here. We've got a family thing to get to.”

“I'm not done asking you questions!” She protested.

“I really don't care.” Ty laughed, “We've got somewhere important to be. Gotta see a woman about some dirt.”

“Dirt?” Zane asked.

Then it hit him. They found it. They found where all this dirt at the scenes were coming from.

“I'm not flying back until you give me an interview!” She protested as they pushed her out the door and locked it behind them.

“Have fun living in Baltimore for the rest of your life then.” Ty waved as he and Zane got into the car and drive off towards the filed office.

 

~*~

 

They all sat in the briefing room waiting for the information to be handed out. Ty was getting antsy, vibrating in his seat with energy, it was so close to being over, to finding this fucker, he couldn't wait any longer. He was about to explode when Clancy walked in the door.

“What do we know?” Ty shot out.

“Calm down, Grady.” Clancy sighed as she set all the information out on the table.

“Forensics finally finished the analysis on the dirt samples. They narrowed it down to an old abandoned asphalt plant outside of Dover. The most recent satellite images of the area shows some activity over the last few weeks but the area is too overgrown to see anything of value, just someone coming and going. They're gassing a helicopter for us now. Gear up. The seven of us will be moving out in less than twenty.” Clancy said, closing her booklet.

“All of us?” Stall asked.

“Yes, unless you don't want to come.” Clancy said plainly.

“We're the SAIC's, not field agents.” Stall clarified.

“I've already spoken to McCoy. He wants this handled. All of us have been cleared for the field work. If you don't feel comfortable coming then let me know now.” Clancy said, looking him in the eye.

“Just making sure.” Stall shrugged.

Carson was half way out the door and heading to suit up before Clancy even left the room. Ty could tell he was itching for a fight and he felt the same way.

“Ty?” Zane asked from behind him.

“Yeah?” Ty smiled.

“You ready for this? We don't know what we'll find when we get there. I don't know how I feel about the seven of us going in alone.” Zane frowned.

“I've got your back, partner.” Ty winked.

“I feel safer already.” Zane leaned down to kiss him.

They walked arm and arm to the outfitting room. Ty pulled out a bulletproof vest for him and Zane. They checked all their holsters and brought along thigh pouches for extra ammo. They each carried two guns on them now. Ty smiled as he saw Zane roll up his sleeves and check the sheathes at his wrists, practicing with the knives, releasing them and loading them back in over and over to check their effectiveness. It was like old times and it felt morbidly right. With a final once over each member of the team grabbed a walkie talkie, tuning them all to the same frequency, and left for their helicopter.

 

~*~

 

The bird touched down outside of their destination under an hour later. It had been three hours in total since they had gotten the call to come in and it all led to this moment.

“We have no idea what we're going to find in there.” Perrimore said.

“This could all be a huge waste of time.” Fowler sighed.

“Or, we could be walking into the lair of a crazed serial killer.” Carson added.

“Seven of us, one of him, I like our odds.” Grant shrugged.

“Will you guys stop fucking talking so we can coordinate this?” Clancy snapped.

“Ty, once we're in there we're going to need you to do the tracking.” Zane said.

“Figured as much.” Ty nodded his head.

“Once we're in the main area and get the lay of the land we'll figure out how we split off.” Stall added.

“We're about a mile outside of the compound, let's get a move on.” Clancy said and started through the woods.

It took them about 15 minutes to reach their destination and they all looked on in astonishment as they took in the sight of the old plant. The old silos that lined the plant were rusted and dangerous looking and beyond that there seemed to be two main structures. A single story office building that looked like it was just one long hallway and then a multistory warehouse with large glass windows covering one side.

They walked into the property with their guns drawn.

“There are footsteps here going every way.” Ty said, looking down at the gray and dusty dirt beneath their feet. “Tire tracks too. They look fresh. I think we're in the right place.”

Ty caught movement in the warehouse out of the corner of his eye. It was small and brief but he knew he saw a dark figure move near one of the windows.

“Warehouse. Movement on the second floor.” Ty said, holding his gun at the ready. The team moved together to the entrance of the warehouse. As they stepped inside they heard a blood curdling cry come from the other side of the complex, near the office building.

“He's fucking got someone here.” Clancy gasped.

“Someone needs to go to them.” Perrimore said.

“Two to the victim, the rest of us on this piece of shit” Ty said.

“I'll go to the office building.” Zane said.

“You're staying with me.” Ty demanded.

“No, I have the better medical training between us. If someone is here that may be hurt, badly.” Zane said forcefully.

“I'll go with him.” Grant said, placing his hand on Ty's shoulder, “I have his back. Don't worry.”

“You fucking come back in once piece, Garrett.” Ty growled.

“I will. Promise.” Zane placed a kiss on his cheek and ran towards the office building with Grant.

“The movement was on the second floor. We go there first. Everyone keep a look out.” Ty said as he pushed his way into the building. He could smell the scent of blood and carnage the second they stepped inside.

“Fuck.” Clancy gagged.

“We're in the right place.” Fowler sighed.

“This is terrible.” Stall said, taking care to step around the chains on the floor.

They ascended the stairs and Ty made note of the blood smears on the wall and bloody footprints on the stairs themselves.

“He's not as careful here. He feels safe.” Ty added.

They stepped into the long windowed hallway. Ty looked down towards the office building but didn't see Zane. He must have already been inside, Ty figured. The first open room they came to made Ty pause. It was filled with syringes and discarded medical bottles.

“These are the drugs.” Clancy said, holding up one of the vials outside of the door.

“No one go in there, god knows what's in some of those things.” Stall warned.

“Come here.” Fowler called from the doorway of the second room.

It was filled with all manner of bloody tools. In the middle of the room sat a blood covered industrial band saw. Blood painted the walls of the room and the ceiling above the band saw was covered in thick sprays of blood.

“This is like some fucked up haunted house.” Fowler held her breath.

“This doesn't make sense. The lab swore that there was so much bleach on the first two bodies that he had to have cleaned around them. This is...overkill.” Clancy said, walking towards Perrimore and pulling him back to the entrance of the hallway. “Something doesn't feel right, guys.”

Ty checked out the window towards the office building, half paying attention to Clancy, still no movement. He was getting anxious.

Ty rounded the corner into the third room when a dark shape jumped out at him, he held his gun up instantly and fired a round. He his his mark. The rest of the team, save for Clancy and Perrimore, came running to him as he looked over it. It was a mannequin, dressed completely in black, on a looping track like an old toy train.

“Fuck.” Ty yelled.

“What the hell is this?” Stall asked.

“This is what I saw. It was all a fucking trick.” Ty said, frantically turning to exit the room and get to the entrance of the warehouse. “We need to get to Zane, now!”

Ty could see Clancy and Perrimore in front of him now, they were halfway down the hallway, running in the direction they came in from when they heard Stall's voice come from further down the hallway.

“There's something in here, you have to come see this. Now.” Stall called out.

“We don't have time!” Ty took a step back towards his direction and froze.

It all happened in a matter of seconds, one second Ty was standing in between the first and second room listening to Stall, the next he was hearing the familiar click of bombs right before they detonate.

“Bomb! Get the fuck out of here! Get to Zane!” Ty screamed at Clancy and Perrimore who dived through the doorway that led out of the hallway. Ty was too far away, he'd never make it to them in time. He only had a second to think before he saw the first blast go off. Stall was standing in the doorway as the firebomb exploded and Ty saw in perfect detail as the flames engulfed his body, melting his glasses and clearing his bones of flesh. The second bomb went off in the bloody room a few seconds later, shrapnel flying out of the doorway. Ty watched in horror as all manner of crude metal shards pelted Fowler's body, ripping into her skin as she screamed in agony. It didn't last long as the force from the explosion sent the blade from the band saw sailing through the air and into her skull, right between her eyes.

Ty was frozen in fear, every PTSD flashback he could possibly be having was occurring in real time. Roadside bombs, insurgents, missiles, grenades, land mines, everything he's ever experienced overseas was right there with him in that hallway. He knew he was about to die. No matter what type of bomb was in the last room he knew it was going to kill him. All he could hope for was the fact that Zane was still alive down there somewhere.

Before he knew it he felt someone's arms around him, pulling him forward towards the window. He looked up and saw Carson who pulled him into a tight embrace, shielding his head with his arm as he threw their bodies out of the giant glass window in front of them. Ty looked back as they fell, almost as if they were in slow motion, and saw the explosion rock the hallway where he was just standing. The resulting blast blew out the rest of the windows and Ty could feel tiny cuts all over his skin from the glass raining down upon them. Before he knew it he felt the impact of the ground. Something cushioned him though, it wasn't the force he expected. It was still too much for his liking though, he couldn't move his neck to see what he'd landed on, all he could do was look up at the blue sky above him before he slipped out of consciousness.

 

~*~

 

Zane gave one last glance at Ty and the team at the warehouse before he and Grant stepped into the office building. When they stepped into the room Zane's eyes took a minute to adjust. The building was really just one long hallway and it was pitch black. All the windows were blacked out so there was no natural light filtering through them.

Do you have a flashlight?” Zane asked Grant.

“Just this small one.” Grant sighed, pulling it out and turning it on. It cast a pitiful glow on the interior.

Zane stepped forward.

“FBI! Is anyone in here?” Zane called out as he continued his long walk down the hallway. There was no answer.

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Grant said and they kept moving.

There was a small light coming out of the last door at the end of the hallway, the only one that was open. As they got closer the light went out. Zane stopped dead in his tracks and raised his gun.

“Is someone there?” He called out.

“We need to get the others.” Grant whispered.

Zane had to agree, something didn't feel right.

“OK. Lets go back.” Zane nodded.

As they turned around to exit another scream rippled through the hallway and the door they came in slammed shut.

“What the fuck?” Grant screamed.

The shriek came again, over and over, nothing changing between each scream.

“It's a recording!” Zane yelled over the screaming.

Zane's eyes adjusted again as red warning lights on the walls flared to life, flashing every other second and bathing the long dark hallway in a terrifying red light. The entire scene as like something from a horror movie, the scream constantly echoing through the hallway, the lights flashing in time with it.

It was then he saw the figure in front of him. A large and imposing body in a black motorcycle helmet that covered his face. A fist came flying at him, catching him off guard and knocking him to the ground. His gun flew out of his hands and down the hallway on the opposite side of the attacker.

“Grant!” Zane grunted.

Zane looked up in time to see another figure appear out of the darkness like a ghost behind Grant and grab him. The second figure was dressed identically to the first one and Zane's eyes went wide as he watched the scene unfold in the flashing red light. Before he could say anything else the second figure had pulled a knife out and drug it across Grant's throat, spilling blood everywhere as Grant grabbed desperately to cover the wound. The figure dropped Grant's body and began to walk towards Zane.

Zane looked behind him and saw the other figure going for his gun. It wasn't his brain playing tricks on him. There were fucking two of them. And he was trapped alone with both of them.

 

 

 


	14. Chapter 14

 

Chapter 14

 

Zane was flat on the floor of the dark hallway, his eyes focusing on the man in front of him. He couldn't fucking believe there were two of them. His thoughts were interrupted by an explosion ringing out from the exterior of the building. Zane's heart dropped as he thought of Ty. Another explosion followed shortly after the first, and then a third. Zane closed his eyes and took a breath. Ty was alive, he could feel it.

The commotion outside was enough to make the second figure pause in his advance towards Zane. He took this moment as his opening and extended a knife from the sheath under his sleeve. He scrambled to his feet and lunched at the figure, he had aimed for the bit of exposed neck he could see under the motorcycle helmet but he slipped in the pool of Grant's blood and was sent tumbling. He only had a second to adjust and the only area he could strike at this point was the mans thigh. He went for it just because he could, driving the knife into the thick and muscular thigh, earning a muffled scream from behind the helmet. He picked himself up again, the knife still lodged in the thigh of his attacker, and sent a fist flying into the mans chest, his other first connecting soon after that, he heard a satisfying crunch and he knew he had landed his intended mark, the mans ribs. He swept his leg around and under the mans feet and sent him flying towards the ground. He sent another kick into the side of the figure and felt another crunch. Before Zane could strike again a gunshot rang out through the hallway and Zane felt a sharp pain his his back. He fell to the ground and found himself face to face with Grant's body. A burning sensation spread from the spot where the bullet impacted the vest. Thank god he was actually wearing one, he knew he would be dead if he wasn't.

Zane collected himself as quick as he could, his body running on pure adrenaline at this point, and scrambled to find the gun on Grant's lifeless body. He felt the cold steel in his hand after a second of searching and laid there for a moment, hoping and assuming the second attacker would think he was dead. The first one was still on the ground a few feet away, unmoving. Zane assumed he'd passed out from the pain. He heard footsteps coming down the hallway towards him and he held the gun close, turning off the safety and rolling on this back and blindly firing off a few rounds.

He heard the thumping sound of the attacker diving to the ground and rolling into one of the offices off to the side.

Zane took this brief moment to move, laying down suppressing fire behind himself as he ran. He he got to the door they make through he found it bolted shut. Fuck. He closed his eyes to think. He knew the attacker would be back in a few seconds and that he only had a few bullets left himself.

Zane stepped to the side of the door and held the gun level with the lock and began firing every round he had left into the door. It worked well enough. He threw his body at the door and swung open, he fell forward just as he felt bullets fly past his head, the firing continued from behind him as he dived to the side and kicked the heavy door back closed. He produced another knife from the sheath on his other wrist and waited at the side of the door for someone to emerge but no one did.

He took a moment to look back at the warehouse and saw the windows blown out on the second floor and fire pouring out of the building. What the fuck was happening?

Zane swung the knife out at an approaching figure behind him, narrowly missing Clancy's neck.

“Zane!” She screamed.

“What the fuck is happening?” Zane demanded.

“I don't know. Everything went to shit.” Clancy was frantic.

“Where's Ty?” Zane screamed.

“Him and Carson...jumped out a window.” Perrimore rasped.

“Where's Grant?” Clancy asked.

“He's dead. This was a trap Michelle. There's fucking two of them!” Zane yelled.

“Two?” Perrimore gasped as smoke started to pour out from under the door of the office building.

“It's on fire!” Clancy grabbed Zane and pulled him away from the building.

“They're in there, we have to get them.” Zane ripped his arm away from her.

“We don't know how many of them there are, Zane. There could be more!” Perrimore grabbed him again.

“Too many people are dead! We need to find Ty and get out of here.” Clancy pleaded.

“Ty.” Zane breathed. “Where was he last?”

“He told us to get out of the hallway and to go find you before the last explosion went off.” Perrimore said as they ran back towards the warehouse.

“Last I saw of him he and Carson were arm in arm and jumping out of the second story window. I don't think anyone else made it out of there.” Clancy panted. “I've already called for every emergency service I could think of. This has gone so fucking sideways.”

They ran for what seemed like forever until they found Ty and Carson, both laying in a pile of old garbage bags and unconscious.

“Ty? Ty!” Zane dropped to his knees and began calling out to Ty.

“Don't move him!” Clancy yelled.

She was right. Zane had know way of knowing if there was any internal damage.

“Zane?” Ty's voice rasped.

“Ty! Oh my god, you're alive. Don't move baby, don't move. Help is on the way.” Zane looked up as he heard the sound of a helicopter approaching.

“What happened? I feel funny?” Ty asked.

“You jumped out a window you crazy bastard. Don't move. I don't know if anything is broken.” Zane pleaded.

“I didn't jump. Carson threw me.” Ty smiled.

Zane's eyes flicked towards Carson who was just a few feet away from Ty, his body unmoving but he could see his chest heaving with every breath. He was alive too.

“Then I'll have to thank him for saving your life when he wakes up.” Zane laughed.

Another explosion ripped through the plant, coming from the office. Zane lifted his head and could see that it was completely engulfed in flames now.

“Why the fuck did we come here without a backup team?” Perrimore spat at Clancy.

“McCoy didn't think we needed one.” She sighed. "We had the normal numbers anyway."

“Excuse me?” Perrimore laughed.

“The standard operating number is usually seven.” Zane sighed, “Two agents and then a coordinated five man squad as backup. We had the numbers. None of us expected this place to be booby trapped. Or for there to be two of them.”

Zane ran to the helicopter as it landed and explained Ty and Carson's conditions. They stabilized them and loaded them on to the helicopter to airlift them to the nearest hospital. Another was inbound to take the other three to the same hospital. Zane closed his eyes as he watched the helicopter carrying Ty ascend and fly away.

 

~*~

 

The beeping from the hospital machinery stirred Ty from his sleep. His vision was fuzzy when he opened his eyes and it took a minute for him to focus. He held up his hands and was pleasantly surprised to find neither of them broken. He could wiggle his toes and turn his neck. He seemed to be in somewhat decent shape aside from the pounding headache. He turned his head to his left and found Zane asleep in a very uncomfortable looking chair.

Ty frowned when he saw Zane's face, it was twisted into an expression of fear. He knew he was having another nightmare and there was nothing he could do. He didn't want to risk waking him either because who knew what kind of reaction he'd have when he woke up. He studied Zane as the dream continued, he was throwing his head back and fourth, mumbling words Ty couldn't make out, and his eyes were moving frantically behind his eyelids.

Ty jumped in the bed as a panicked Zane woke in the chair with a gasp for air. Ty watched him as he breathed heavily in and out and ran his hand through his hair to calm himself.

“Hi.” Ty rasped.

“You're awake?” Zane said in a startled voice.

“As of a few minutes ago.” Ty smiled.

“Good.” Zane let out a sigh.

“I was watching you. Bad dream?” Ty frowned.

“Just you getting blown up.” Zane huffed.

“I'm here, baby.” Ty smiled.

“I know.” Zane said with a frown.

“How long was I out?” Ty asked.

“A little over a day. You remember anything?” Zane asked.

“All of it.” Ty sighed. “Who made it out.”

“Us, Clancy, Perrimore, and Carson.” Zane closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

“How the fuck did we lose three people?” Ty sighed.

“We went in blind like fucking idiots.” Zane shook his head.

“Seven FBI agents should have been able to search one psychopaths house without dying so spectacularly.” Ty huffed.

“It wasn't one.” Zane said.

“What?” Ty asked, his eyes widening.

“There were two. At least.” Zane sighed.

“Back up.” Ty said.

“In the office building. We were attacked by two guys dressed the same as that biker who shot at us.” Zane let out another sigh, “One came up behind Grant and slit his throat then attacked me. I stabbed him and broke at least three of his ribs. The other shot me. In my vest. I might have hit him but I don't know.”

“You could have fucking died.” Ty yelled.

“So could you.” Zane laughed.

“I thought we were done with this shit?” Ty rolled his eyes.

“It has been a while since I've seen you laying in a hospital bed. At least your hand isn't broken.” Zane smiled.

“It was the first thing I check.” Ty admitted. “How's Carson?”

“Broken arm, sprained ankle, a few cracked ribs. A lot better than I expected. You landed on top of him.” Zane laughed.

“I didn't. He grabbed me and jumped with me out of the window to save me. I swear he made sure I fell on top of him.” Ty shook his head.

“He said as much.” Zane confirmed.

“I fucking froze, Zane. Those two bombs went off and I had every flashback at once and I couldn't move. I'd be dead right now if he didn't save my life.” Ty sighed.

“He's down the hall. We can go talk to him when you're feeling up to it. I owe him a lot.” Zane smiled.

“Me too...” Ty trailed off.

He looked at Zane and wanted to cry for some reason.

“Zane?” Ty said in a quiet voice.

“Yeah?” Zane asked.

“Will you come lay with me?” Ty asked sheepishly.

“Of course, doll.” Zane smiled and crawled into the tiny hospital bed with Ty.

Ty felt a feeling of comfort and safety wash over his as Zane pressed against him in the hospital bed and let out a satisfied hum as he felt his lips press to his head.

“Do we know what happened with the two guys?” Ty asked.

“No.” Zane frowned, “They set the building on fire and then blew it up for good measure. The only body that they found was Grant's. Or what was left of it after the fire” Zane shook his head.

 

“So they're still out there?” Ty asked.

“Yep.” Zane sighed.

 

~*~

 

Zane stood outside of the doorway to Carson's room as Ty was back in his filling out the mountain of discharge paperwork. He hesitated for a moment before sticking his head around the corner and knocking on the door.

Carson looked up from the bed, the entire left side of his body bruised and broken from the impact of the ground and Ty on top of him.

“Hey.” Zane said softly into the room.

“Hey.” Carson whispered, turning his head from the window to Zane. “How's Grady?”

“Awake. He's being discharged now.” Zane smiled.

“Good. I'm glad he's OK.” Carson gave a half smile.

“Thanks to you.” Zane said, crossing the room and taking a seat in the chair next to the bed.

“Just did what I had to do. Wasn't going to let another person die.” Carson shrugged with his one good arm.

“Not how Ty remembers it.” Zane said.

“Huh?” Carson looked up.

“He says you made sure he fell on top of you so he wouldn't take the brunt of the impact...it's probably why he's all intact right now.” Zane trailed off.

“Oh, yeah.” Carson sighed.

“Why?” Zane asked with a raised eyebrow. He was thankful for sure but it didn't make sense.

“I figured if one of us had to die it would be better if it was the one who wasn't married and didn't have any family left.” Carson let out a sigh.

“Carson...” Zane felt his entire body go rigid.

“It's just simple numbers, Garrett. Grady has you and his entire family still alive who would be crushed if he died. I'm not married, no siblings, and my parents have been dead for years. If one of us had to go it should have been the one with the least to leave behind.” Carson turned his head away from Zane and stared at the ceiling.

“Morbid.” Zane let out in a breath.

“Meh.” Carson laughed.

Zane hesitated for a second before speaking again.

“I...remember you, you know?” Zane said cautiously as Carson's head shot towards him in one quick motion.

“What do you mean?” Carson's eyes shifted and his voice cracked, obviously playing dumb.

“D.C. In November, 2007.” Zane smiled.

 

~*~

 

November 2007. Washington, D.C.

 

Zane sat at the bar downtown gazing into the glass of amber liquid that sat in front of him. He'd been sober for a while now but what was the fucking point? He was stuck in a division he fucking hated, he didn't have anyone to come home to at night, he didn't have anyone who cared enough about him to ask him not to slowly kill himself. Not anymore. And not ever again.

And on top of it all, his wife had been dead for four years today.

“Fuck it.” He said to himself as he threw the glass back and smiled as the fire poured down his throat.

God he missed this. He ordered another drink. And then another. Soon he was six drinks in and had no intention of stopping. He looked over as he felt someone sit down next to him.

“I'll have what he's having.” The voice next to him said.

“You sure?” Zane asked, “Stuff isn't for the lighthearted.”

He turned to the man sitting next to him and his first thought was how attractive he was. His light blonde hair and high cheekbones immediately drew Zane to him. He reminded him of the man from New Orleans in a way, but not in the same way as all the others, he had a boyish charm to him, a playfulness he could see under the heavy blanket of sadness that was currently settled over his shoulders. He had clearly seen Zane's pity party and decided to get in on the action. As he settled into the stool Zane could see the trademark outline of a gun at his hip and a large rectangular item in his pocket. So, the kid was FBI.

“I'm gonna need to see an ID.” The bartender said.

“Seriously?” The young guy sighed pulling out his wallet and presenting his drivers license, “I'm 29.”

Fuck. Zane thought. Entirely too young for him. It had been less than a month since his 41st birthday and here he was thinking about taking a 29 year old back to his hotel room on the anniversary of his dead wife.

“I'm not very lighthearted right now.” The younger man shrugged.

“Join the club.” Zane sighed as he took another sip.

“I'm Alex, by the way.” The younger man said with a small smile.

“Zane.” Zane gave him a nod.

“What brings you to town?” Alex asked him.

“Work.” Zane shrugged.

“Me too.” Alex sighed.

Of course it did, you were an FBI agent and if you had any sense about yourself you'd realize I was one too. Zane thought to himself.

“You make a habit of going up to strangers in a bar who are trying to wallow in their own misery?” Zane asked sarcastically.

“Only when they look as miserable as me. Misery loves company.” Alex laughed.

“Who died?” Zane rolled his eyes.

“Girlfriend. Last month.” Alex said quietly.

Shit. Didn't mean to step into that.

“Sorry.” Zane offered.

“What about you?” Alex asked.

“Wife.” Zane took a deep breath, “Four years ago today.”

“That's heavy.” Alex said, ordering another drink.

“That's life.” Zane shrugged.

They stayed at the bar talking for hours about nothing in particular. Maybe this guy was right, misery did love company. It was around midnight when Zane felt like leaving. He asked the bartender for his tab to cash out.

“So what are your plans for the rest of the night?” Alex ashed in a shy tone.

“Don't know.” Zane hesitated.

“Oh.” Alex frowned.

“Might try to find some girl to get under me.” Zane waited for a moment. “Or some guy to get myself under.”

“Guy?” Alex asked with something between a smile and frown on his face.

“Don't know what I'm in the mood for.” Zane shrugged, trying to play it cool and waiting to see if Alex would make a move. He didn't so Zane wrote it off as a lost cause and walked out of the bar towards his hotel across the street. He was waiting at the intersection for the crosswalk to light up when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Zane...” Alex's voice trailed off.

“I was wondering if you were going to follow me.” Zane turned to him with a grin and saw the terrified look on the other mans face.

“I've never done anything like this before.” Alex admitted. “With a guy.”

“Oh?” Zane laughed. “Why now?”

“Dunno. Depression? Self sabotage?” Alex sighed.

“Well, do you want to? I'm right across the street.” Zane pointed to his hotel.

“I don't know. Maybe. It doesn't make me gay!” Alex warned.

“Never said it did.” Zane shrugged.

The rational part of him felt wrong for preying on someone who was so obviously conflicted with himself but rational Zane had also been locked in the basement about 12 drinks ago and he wasn't going back out until the morning.

Alex nodded.

“You got a condom?” Zane asked flippantly.

“I...yeah.” Alex nodded, furiously blushing.

“Let's go then.” Zane ushered him across the street.

A few minutes later they were standing in Zane's hotel room. Zane removed his jacket and set his gun on the table. He saw Alex's eyes go wide.

“I'm a detective in Baltimore.” Zane lied. “Never travel without it.”

“Oh.” Alex laughed, pulling his jacket back and revealing his gun. “FBI.”

Zane stepped over to him and circled his hand around the younger mans waist, he felt Alex shudder beneath him as he unhooked the holster from his belt and sat the gun on the table next to him.

He pulled Alex in close and pressed their bodies together, he could already feel Alex's growing erecting pressing against his already hard cock.

“Kissing or no?” Zane asked, the alcohol flowing off his breath and onto Alex's face.

Alex just nodded a yes.

Zane pressed their lips together and slipped his tongue into Alex's mouth, he could taste the alcohol on both of them. It took a second but Alex finally returned the kiss, it was sloppy and unpracticed, and Zane found it hot.

Zane let himself loose after that. He began to unbutton Alex's shirt and run his hands over the younger mans smooth and defined torso. He felt Alex grab his ass and grunted with pleasure. He undid Alex's belt and watched as they fell to the ground and left him in only tight boxer briefs, his cock poking out and pouring precum.

“You're fucking huge.” Zane laughed before taking Alex's cock in his hand and slowly starting to jerk him off. He felt Alex moan into his mouth for a moment and then the other man froze. Zane stopped all this movements and stood still.

“Get off me.” Alex said quietly.

“What?” Zane said, confused.

“I said...get your hands off of me.” Alex choked out.

Zane removed his hand from Alex's body and cock and took a step back. He watched as Alex pulled his clothes back on, furiously buttoning his pants and redoing his belt. He was trembling all over and Zane felt terrible. He knew he shouldn't have made a move on the guy who was so clearly not ready and has just lost someone. He knew he should have declined him at that crosswalk when he saw the look of confusion on his face.

“Hey,” Zane took a step forward, his hands placed up in surrender, “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-”

He was cut off by a sudden fist flying at his face. He was stuck by a wicked right hook that sent him flying backwards, crashing into the table behind him and then to the floor.

“Stay the fuck away from me faggot. If you get up before I'm out of this room I swear to god I will take my gun out and shoot you.” Alex warned, pulling on the rest of his clothes and placing the holster back on his belt loop.

Zane sat on the floor in a mixture of self loathing, confusion, and disbelief. He watched as Alex turned and ran from the room, slamming the door behind him.

Zane sat on the floor of the room for several long minutes thinking about everything that had happened. Of course this happened on the anniversary of Becky's death, he laughed.

No more. No more drinking. No more stupid mistakes made in the heat of the moment.

“Remind me to never make a move on another FBI agent ever again.” Zane laughed out loud as he searched the room for ice to put on his swollen face.

 

~*~

 

Zane sat back in the chair after he finished his story. Carson's eyes were wide with shock.

“I...how did you remember that. You were fucking wasted.” Carson sighed.

“Professional alcoholic. I always remember.” Zane laughed.

“Why didn't you say anything sooner?” Carson said quietly.

“Why would I? It was clear to me from how you were treating Ty and I that you didn't like us and I figured you knew who I was.” Zane said.

“Yeah, I found out pretty soon after that the Baltimore detective was actually an FBI agent. That was fun.” Carson rolled his eyes.

“That night factored into how I treated Ty.” Zane said flatly.

“Huh?” Carson asked.

“That was almost a year before Ty and I met on the original Tri-State case. I almost didn't make a move because of what happened with you. I didn't feel like getting punched in the face again. Or killed in Ty's case since he was a recon marine.” Zane laughed.

“So why did you?” Carson asked.

“Dunno, really. Just a feeling.” Zane furrowed his eyebrows.

“Have you told Ty?” Carson asked.

“No. Haven't found the right time. He already hates you and I figured this story would actually make him murder you.” Zane laughed.

“Oh. I thought that was why he hated me.” Carson sighed.

“Nope. That's all on you buddy.” Zane laughed.

“I'm sorry. For everything.” Carson said quietly as Zane got up to leave the room.

Zane walked over to him and put his hand on the younger mans shoulder.

“I know.” Zane smiled. “Thank you for saving my husbands life. I owe you.”

Zane saw Carson blush and he took his hand off his shoulder and left the room.

He walked down the hallway and back to Ty's room and found him dressed and ready to go.

“Where were you?” Ty asked.

“Talking to Carson.” Zane smiled.

“How is he?” Ty frowned.

“A little broken up.” Zane said.

“I should go see him and thank him.” Ty said, stepping around Zane to exit the room.

“Before you do,” Zane grabbed Ty by the hand and took a deep breath, “I should tell you something.”

 

 

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

 

 

 

Chapter 15

 

“I still can't believe you never told me about Carson.” Ty laughed from his seat on the balcony of the row house.

“Ty, it's been two weeks since I told you, it's time to stop laughing about it.” Zane sighed.

Zane was right, it had been two weeks, and in those two weeks they'd attended three funerals, gotten yelled at by McCoy and subsequently released from their temporary duties as not really FBI agents after Ty told him to go fuck himself, and they hadn't heard anything from the killers in that period either. Still, with all of that, the only thing Ty could concentrate on was Zane almost fucking Carson a year before they met.

“I'll let it go soon enough,” Ty laughed, “it's just fucking hilarious. Why didn't you tell me?”

“We've already had this conversation! I didn't tell you because you already hated him and I didn't want to make it worse.” Zane sighed.

“Not just in the last few weeks, I mean in the last few years.” Ty frowned.

“Oh.” Zane sighed. “I've always felt kind of gross about it.”

Gross? What? Why?” Ty asked with a frown.

“I've always felt like I pushed myself on him, got him to do something he wasn't ready for, and it made me feel bad.” Zane shrugged.

“Zane..” Ty sighed and looked at him with big eyes like he was about to comfort him. “That's stupid.”

Zane barked a laugh and Ty just rolled his eyes at him. They'd seen Carson a handful of times since the hospital, once at every funeral and then at the last meeting they all had with McCoy, he was healing well but the undercurrent of anger that was always there when they interacted had been replaced with an awkward uncertainty. Ty felt himself growing jealous and wondering if maybe Carson had carried this longstanding attraction to Zane. It was irrational and stupid given the fact that Carson almost sacrificed himself to save him but Ty was never rational or smart when it came to jealousy.

“I know you're jealous.” Zane laughed.

“Did you just read my mind, Garrett?” Ty gasped.

“No, you just have that jealous look on your face.” Zane smiled.

“I don't have a jealous look!” Ty shouted.

“Yes you do.” Zane doubled over in laughter.

“It's not funny! Zane!” Ty felt his face turning hot.

“Nothing to be jealous about, doll.” Zane stood and placed a kiss on Ty's forehead.

Ty shuddered under his kiss and cooled down. Ty knew he didn't have anything to be jealous about but that had never stopped him before.

“What if he gets together with Clancy and we all go on awkward double dates where two of the four people at the table have seen him naked?” Ty gasped.

“That would actually be fucking hilarious.” Zane laughed.

“Speaking of Clancy...how's she doing?” Ty frowned.

Clancy had been placed on a sort of work probation for the last two weeks, along with Carson, because of how badly everything went. McCoy couldn't fire either of them because he basically ordered them both to work under the radar and do whatever they had to but as the two surviving SAIC's that had been informally disciplined and were being watched like hawks for the foreseeable future.

“She's good, I talked to her before you woke up. She's literally triple checking all her paperwork and everything to make sure there isn't a single mistake anywhere. She's convinced they'll fire her at the first mistake.” Zane sighed.

“They won't.” Ty shrugged, “McCoy knows he fucked up. If they go down then he goes down with them. Or we all join together to take him down because we're bored and petty.”

“Wouldn't be the first time.” Zane laughed.

The last two weeks had been a nice return to form. They'd resumed their CIA activities and were apologized to for even letting McCoy steal them for those few weeks. Ty liked it better this way. He didn't realize how much he actually hated being out in the field. He thought he would go crazy for the rest of his life a few years ago when he retired but after the mess at the asphalt plant he realized that he never wanted to be in a situation like that again. That they were officially done with any and all field work. He and Zane had a long conversation a few nights ago about it and they both agreed that no matter what happened they wouldn't go back into the field like that.

Ty once again thought of children. It they weren't going to go into the field anymore, even for the CIA, maybe they could have a child. Or children. The only issue was still the bookstore. It wasn't filed work but it could have it's dangerous moments. Just last week a terrified asset pulled a gun on him before Zane disarmed him and locked him in the basement. The thought of working a family into their insane life always left him with more questions than answers.

“I've got an appointment with Dr. Asher in half an hour, are you coming with me or am I allowed to go off on my own?” Zane smiled, breaking him out of his thoughts.

“I've got someone coming in to the store to look at the plumbing in the bathroom.” Ty frowned.

“Then I'll go with you to the store and then head to Dr. Asher.” Zane nodded.

They'd let up slightly on the idea that they had to be everywhere together in the last two weeks. Nothing new had happened on the copycat front, no murders, no signs, nothing. They decided that they couldn't live their life in constant fear of one or the other being murdered so they had been getting back to their routine. Ty still worried about Zane every second they were apart though and demanded text updates any time he asked.

“Let's get going then!” Ty said, jumping up and smacking Zane on the ass to hustle him out the door.

 

~*~

 

“It's nice to finally have you back.” Dr. Asher said as Zane walked into his office.

“It is.” Zane agreed.

He hadn't been to see Asher since the incident at the asphalt plant, too many funerals and meetings to attend that he barely had any free time, and when he did have free time he just wanted to spend it with Ty. He'd been doing well, he thought, he hadn't had any nightmares in the last two weeks but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something he just needed to talk about.

“How have you been?” Asher said, walking over to the pitcher in his office and pouring a glass, “Water?”

“Yes, please.” Zane smiled and accepted the glass and took a drink before continuing. “It's been a rough two weeks...we had a few funerals to go to for friends who died on the job.”

“That's terrible, Zane. I'm so sorry for your loss.” Asher frowned.

“Thank you. They were good people, you know this is always a possibility when you do the kind of job we do.” Zane sighed.

“We do?” Asher echoed. “You're retired though.”

“Force of habit.” Zane shrugged, trying to play it off.

“Really?” Asher raised his eyebrow.

Damn, Busted.

“It's not really much I can talk about. Lets just say Ty and I were...freelancing for an old friend and things didn't go well.” Zane tried to figure out how to word it.

“So you were there when your friends died?” Asher asked.

“Yes.” Zane sighed.

“Would you like to elaborate? You know anything you say here is confidential, even if it has to deal with the FBI or whatever. It never leaves this room.” Asher closed his note pad, “Totally off the record.”

“OK.” Zane leaned forward in his chair and took another sip of water before standing up and beginning to pace around the room.

“Whatever you feel comfortable with.” Asher smiled.

“You heard of the tri-state killer from around 2008, right?” Zane asked.

“I think everyone did.” Asher said.

“Ty and I were the agents who caught him. Or rather, I was the agent who killed him.” Zane sighed.

“Oh...” Asher said flatly.

“It was how Ty and I first met. We got partnered together, we fucking hated each other, spent a week trying to catch the guy and almost dying multiple times in the process. We started having sex during that time too. All the line were blurred. Then we were split up for months, I spiraled, we came back together and had more sex, feeling came around, it was a scary time.” Zane let out a breath.

“How does this connect to now?” Asher asked as Zane took another gulp of his water, finishing the glass.

“I'll get there.” Zane warned, “Anyway, we went back to New York for the killer and he ended up being a young FBI agent who had been working with us since the beginning of the case. I fucking trusted him. He tried to kill us with a cab, I swore we were going to die in that fucking SUV, then took us back to his apartment and ended up almost killing Ty.”

“Zane, I know you're trying to get stuff out but none of it is really making sense.” Asher said with a frown on his face.

Zane ignored him. He didn't know why but he felt like he just needed to keep fucking talking.

“When I found out who he was and that he hurt Ty I fucking killed him. I killed him and I fucking loved it. It made me feel alive. He deserved it. He hurt Ty and I killed him.” Zane growled.

Zane stopped talking when he saw his reflection in the mirror on the opposite side of the room. He looked absolutely feral. God, maybe he was a fucking sociopath.

Asher got up from his chair and grabbed Zane's empty glass and refilled it.

“Sorry...I always get kind of lost when I tell that story. It's been years but it still haunts me if I let it. These last few weeks haven't helped.” Zane frowned and sat back down.

“What do these last few weeks have to do with anything?” Asher asked.

“The killings that have been happening since Christmas...it's a copycat of the first killer. Ty and I were helping the FBI find the guy since we had experience with the first one.” Zane huffed.

“Oh.” Was all Asher responded.

“There was a team of seven of us. We found out where we thought the guy was hiding and went in to investigate. It turned out to be a huge fucking trap, the place was rigged with explosives, and there were two of them. Not one. Myself and the guy I split off with were attacked by both of them. I saw the guy, a good fucking agent, get his throat slit right in front of me.” Zane said.

“That's terrible, I'm sorry.” Asher gave Zane a weak smile.

“I was able to fight them off and got out, Ty almost died, jumped out a fucking window with a guy I almost had sex with almost a decade ago, which is a whole other can of worms we don't have time for today. Two more agents died in that building with Ty.” Zane frowned.

“That's very heavy. I can't imagine.” Asher said.

“You want to know the worst part?” Zane asked.

“What?” Asher said back.

“I'm glad it was them and not Ty or the other two friends I had there.” Zane said flatly.

“That's natural. When stuff like this happens you look at who else could have died if things had gone differently. You and Ty are...fiercely protective of each other, that much I've learned.” Asher laughed.

“You could say that.” Zane shrugged, “What about you and Damien? You're telling me you wouldn't die for him?”

Zane could tell Asher was thrown off his guard.

“Damien and I have been together for quite a long time.” Asher smiled, “I can say without hesitation that if anyone ever hurt him I would do everything in my power to hurt them back ten times more.”

“Then you know how I feel.” Zane said.

“Not really.” Asher admitted, “You and Ty have been through much more than Damien and I ever will.”

Zane took another gulp of the water in front of him as the timer buzzed.

“Guess time is up.” Zane laughed.

“I'd like to see you next week?” Asher asked.

“Yeah. I'll call tomorrow and make the appointment.” Zane smiled, shaking Asher's hand and heading out of the office.

 

~*~

 

“It will be _how much_ to fix this?” Ty asked, flabbergasted.

“You've asked me this five times already, it's not going to change. If you want it done right now and correctly it'll cost you $2,500. Someone did a number on these pipes.” The plumber sighed.

Ty let out an exasperated breath before pulling out his wallet. This was painful. He knew if Zane were here right now he'd pull out his credit card and give it to the guy before he even gave them a total, Zane could spend money when it was needed without hesitation. By Ty? Ty was raised knowing the value of a dollar and $2,500 was nothing to scoff at. He'd never even had a combined $1,000 in his bank account at one time until after he got discharged from the marines. Ty knew his hesitation was stupid since he'd be using the credit card from their joint account and it made no difference if the charge came from Ty's card or the identical one Zane carried but it was the principal of the matter. He relented and finally pulled the card out, handing it to the guy and watching as he wrote up the invoice. This was going to nag at him all day.

He looked up when the bell above the door rang and walked around the corner to see Zane standing there.

“Oh, now you get here?” Ty sighed.

“What?” Zane laughed.

“I just had to give the plumber our card for the repairs! You know how much I hate spending money like that!” Ty frowned.

“How much was it?” Zane smiled.

“$2,500.” Ty grunted.

“Really?” Zane laughed, “I thought it would be way more than that.”

Ty let out a yell and collapsed into one of the bean bags on the floor as Zane laughed at him.

“How was the shrink?” Ty asked.

“It was...I don't know.”Zane frowned.

“What?” Ty asked with a concerned look on his face.

“I think you'll get mad if I tell you.” Zane confessed.

“Zane, there's nothing you could say while talking to your therapist that would make me mad but if you don't want to tell me I wont force you or hold it against you.” Ty smiled.

“I told him everything about the case.” Zane rushed out quickly.

“OK.” Ty said, trying his best to hide the 'what the fuck' he really wanted to reply with.

“I didn't mean to. He kept pushing and knew I wasn't telling the truth about something and I kind of just snapped and told him everything about the original case, and us, then the copycat, the asphalt factory. It all just came out like word vomit.” Zane sighed.

“Word vomit?” Ty laughed.

“Shut up. You're mad at me.” Zane frowned.

“I'm not made at you. I promise.” Ty smiled, “A little shocked that you'd dump some classified information like that but I get it. He's your doctor, confidentiality and all that. Do you at least feel better?”

“I don't think so.” Zane laughed.

“What do you mean?” Ty frowned.

“Putting it all out there, hearing the words come out of my mouth, it all makes me lightheaded. I'm tired, depressed, irritated. I don't even know what I am anymore.” Zane sighed.

“Go take a nap upstairs. I'll hold down the fort here, you go get some rest.” Ty smiled.

“Are you sure?” Zane asked, his eyes feeling heavy at just the thought of sleep.

“Positive.” Ty placed a kiss on the tip of his nose before crawling up from the beanbag and pushing Zane up the stairs.

 

~*~

 

The wind whipped through his hair as he stood on the roof of the building, they were up high, higher than he'd ever been while not being in a plane.[Music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-zvtIZ0BYs) softly filtered upwards from the street far below. He turned around and saw a face that broke his heart. Ty was standing in front of him, his hand outstretched, holding a gun.

“Just do it, Zane.” Ty cried.

“No. I can't. I won't hurt you again.” Zane screamed.

“You have to, Zane! You have to or they'll kill you!” Ty was frantic, thrusting the revolver at him. “Just fucking shoot me, save yourself!”

“I'd rather die than hurt you anymore, Beaumont.” Zane said, tears falling to the stone ground below him.

 

 _Forgive my thoughts when I'm asleep_  
Forgive these words I'm yet to speak  
I feel so ashamed  
Right now you seem so far away  
So much confusion clouds my mind  
And I don't know which path to take 

 

“I can't live with you, Zane. Don't fucking make me!” Ty was screaming, a fury in his face that he hadn't seen in years.

He watched as Ty brought the gun to his own head and held it there.

“If you won't do it, I will.” Ty threatened him.

“Don't you fucking dare!” Zane snarled.

Ty closed his eyes and pulled the trigger but nothing happened.

“It will only work if you do it. You have to do it.” Ty grabbed his hand and placed the gun in it.

“I can't. I won't.” Zane cried and raised the gun to his own head.

 

_Here's hoping  
You'll help me to resist _

 

The gun clicked in the same manner as when Ty tried to fire it on himself.

“It only works if you shoot me with it, you fucking idiot. Just do it. They're almost here!” Ty screamed, looking over his shoulder at the door behind them banging.

“No. I'm not hurting you anymore.” Zane smiled and grabbed his hands to Ty's chest before pushing him backwards and sending him flying to the ground so he couldn't stop him.

“I love you.” Zane smiled and turned his back to Ty, breaking out in a run towards the edge of the building. He closed his eyes as he dove over the side, he didn't want to see it coming. The last thing he wanted to see was Ty's face.

 

 _Devotion save me now_  
I don't wanna stray from the hallowed ground  
I'll turn temptation down  
I'm asking you to take me to safety this time 

 

 

_~*~_

 

Ty was awoken by the movement next to him, Zane rustling around and sitting up in bed. He rolled over with a sigh, knowing what had happened.

“Nightmare?” Ty groaned, his voice gravely with sleep.

“Mhm.” Zane nodded his head.

“You're not freaking?” Ty said, pushing himself up on his elbows and studying Zane.

The past few times this had happened it resulted in a panicked and crying Zane but here he was sitting calmly and quietly.

“You didn't die this time.” Zane smiled.

“That's an improvement!” Ty laughed.

“”If you call me killing myself so I didn't kill you an improvement.” Zane joked.

“Seriously?” Ty sighed.

“Mhm.” Zane grinned, “Took a flying leap off a building so I wouldn't have to shoot you.”

“Stop smiling, asshole!” Ty scolded.

Why the fuck did he think killing himself was somehow better than killing him?

“Wait, you're mad I didn't kill you?” Zane asked, shocked.

“Fuck yes I am!” Ty snapped.

“Nothing makes sense anymore.” Zane groaned and threw his face into the pillow.

“I'd be way more pissed off about you killing yourself for me than you just killing me!” Ty was getting angry that Zane failed to see his point. “I'd never be able to live with myself if you did something like that.”

Zane decompressed a breath and rolled on his back, locking eyes with Ty.

“I'm tired of us talking about dying.” Zane rolled his eyes.

“We went a good two years without it, this is just the universe giving it back to us.” Ty laughed.

Ty rolled over and looked at the clock, it was 1am and officially Saturday.

“How awake are you?” Ty smiled.

“What do you mean?” Zane laughed.

“Like, are you awake-awake or i-could-go-back-to-sleep-awake?” Ty said, confusing even himself.

“I guess I could be awake-awake but it's only 1am.” Zane furrowed his brow.

“What do you say we get up and get dressed, pack a bag, and drive home for the weekend?” Ty smiled, he knew he didn't need to clarify that home meant Bluefield.

“Mara would have a heart attack if we just showed up for breakfast.” Zane laughed.

“If we leave now we'd make it in time for the eggs to hit the table.” Ty grinned.

“Under one condition.” Zane smiled.

“What?” Ty asked with a raised eyebrow.

“You come over here and fuck my brains out first.” Zane stood from the bed and slipped off his boxers, his rock hard cock springing to attention and drawing out a moan from Ty.

“You drive a hard bargain, Garrett.” Ty drawled.

“Something's hard alright.” Zane winked.

“Bad pun penalty.” Ty rolled his eyes. “Now get over here so I can punish you for it.”

“Punish me, huh?” Zane's eyes glinted with mischief.

“Mhm.” Ty hummed.

“Be right back.” Zane smiled before running of the room.

“Seriously?” Ty yelled.

“It'll be worth it!” He could hear Zane call to him from downstairs.

What the fuck was so important downstairs that he'd leave Ty in bed with a rather painful hard on? Turns out the answer was handcuffs.

“Seriously?” Ty asked, his eyes wide. “You're not putting those on me.”

“They're not for you. They're for me.” Zane smiled.

Neither of them particularly liked handcuffs by Ty had the obvious predisposition to him and it was an unspoken rule that no matter how into it he got he would never, ever want to be tied up. Zane on the other hand? Apparently he wanted to.

“What?” Was all Ty could manage.

“Handcuff me to the bed and fuck me senseless.” Zane smiled, throwing the cold metal cuffs at him.

He had to take a minute to laugh at how experimental they were both getting in their years together. Zane all of a sudden wanting to be tied up, Ty and the rubber band a few weeks back. It was nice to shake things up every once in a while.

“Get the fuck over here then so I can get inside of that ass and use it all I want.” Ty growled and Zane sent his body flying towards him.

Ty leveraged his position and flipped Zane over onto his back, spreading his legs with his knees and pinning his arms above his head. He leaned in for a kiss, sliding his tongue into Zane's mouth and letting them dance with each other. He retreated with a bite to Zane's lips and took the cuffs in his hands. One by one he fastened each metal loop around Zane's wrists then hooked the other end to the iron headboard behind them. They mad a satisfying clink as Zane tried to struggle to touch himself and Ty.

Zane let out a frustrated growl as he realized he couldn't reach even Ty and he felt his cock twitch. OK, this was really fucking hot. One look at Zane, splayed under him, with his arms secured above his head, biceps and every muscle possible flexing as he writhes and fought to touch any part of himself made Ty's cock leak in anticipation.

He started at Zane's neck, placing a small kiss before transforming it into a territorial bite, he wanted to leave a mark so everyone knew Zane was his. Zane gasped in a mix of pain and pleasure as Ty's teeth sunk into him.

His attention turned to the clavicle next, the bone protruding every so slightly under the skin and begging for attention. Another bite was in order, he sunk his teeth in, leaving another mark.

Zane was panting for breath under him, all the struggling was wearing him out, which would make him that much more pliable when the main act began.

Ty alternated bites and kisses down Zane's body, stopping to flick his tongue over Zane's nipples and feel him shiver under him.

When he got to Zane's cock he knew that the tiniest sensation would send Zane over the edge. He knew his husband well and the signs were all there, he was reaching fever pitch. The state of things told Ty that he needed to forego the planned blowjob if he wanted Zane to last for him.

“Please Ty, touch me.” Zane begged.

“Nuh-uh.” Ty sing songed, “You've been bad. You don't deserve to be touched.”

Ty laughed as he saw Zane roll his eyes and he wondered how long he could keep this act up.

Ty bent down to run his tongue over Zane's balls before letting the lube he'd just pulled out cover his fingers and slide inside Zane.

“Baby.” Zane gasped.

Ty responded by blowing a gust of air onto Zane's aching cock, the sensation made Zane cry out in agony and writhe below him. Ty couldn't wait any longer, he needed to be inside his husband.

He slicked his cock with the lube and pressed his lips against Zane's before sliding himself inside. Zane released scream that was muffled by Ty's mouth, smiling as Zane contained to beg and pant in between kisses.

“Fuck Zane, I love you.” Ty whimpered, picking up the pace of his hips.

“Please, Ty, baby, let me fucking cum.” Zane begged as his body moved underneath Ty, trying to flex his hips to meet Ty's abs so he could desperately rub his cock against them for some type of sensation.

“You really want to?” Ty grinned.

“Fucking please.” Zane begged.

Ty smiled and pulled out of Zane, he began to whimper and beg Ty to come back until he saw Ty straddle him, spread lube all over his cock and lower his ass onto it, moaning as it passed through and deep into him, Ty only needed to rock his hips for a minute or so before Zane released inside of him, blowing wave after wave, deep and powerful.

The sensation filled Ty with energy and he was pulling himself off of Zane's cock to return to his ass before Zane was even done with his orgasm.

Ty slammed himself back inside Zane, pulling out completely and entering suddenly a few more times until he came inside Zane, collapsing over into a heap of sweat and cum, unable to move. He'd been beaten to death by pure ecstasy.

“That was...fuck.” Ty laughed.

“I think I'm dead. Is this heaven?” Zane was absolutely loopy.

“No but this might send us to hell.” Ty poked him in the ribs.

“At least I'll have you with me for my eternal damnation.” Zane laughed. “Get me out of these.”

Ty laughed and reached down to the ground to pick up the keys, undoing the cuffs on both of Zane's wrists.

“How am I supposed to sit on my ass for a five hour car ride after that?” Zane asked before they both collapsed again into a fit of laughter.

 

 


	16. Chapter 16

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 16

 

It was almost 6am on the dot when Zane pulled the car to a stop in the Grady driveway. He was excited to surprise Mara, they hadn't called ahead to say they would be coming, Ty assured him it would be well worth the look on her face when she opened the door to keep it a surprise.

They quietly shut both car doors and crept up to the front door of the house. Zane could already smell the bacon cooking on the old stove in the kitchen. Ty smiled as he rapped his knuckles on the door and waited for his mother.

“Someone better have a darn good answer for knockin' on my door at six in the morning when I am trying to cook!” Mara called with exasperation from inside the house.

Zane had to bite his lip to not start laughing and he looked over to see Ty was doing the same. They both put the biggest grin on their faces as they could when the door opened. Zane was supremely disappointed he didn't get the reaction he was promised.

“Who died?” Mara deadpanned when her eyes adjusted and saw it was them.

“Ma! What?” Ty yelled.

“Ain't no reason for you to be here out of the blue on a Saturday mornin' so obviously someone is dead.” Mara shrugged.

Zane couldn't help himself, he burst out into a hearty fit of laughter, dramatically stumbling his way over to the porch railing to brace himself.

“I'm glad you find death so funny, Zane dear.” Mara cocked her head at him as Earl appeared behind her.

“Oh no, who died?” Earl asked.

That was it for Zane, he was gone. He'd completely collapsed to the ground, rolling back and fourth and struggling to breath amid his hysteria.

“Tyler.” Earl said softly, “What have you done to your husband?”

“Me?!” Ty screamed.

“He looks...malfunctioned.” Chester said, peaking his head through the window.

Zane was finally starting to collect himself as he lay flat on the porch, his chest heaving for air.

“No.” Ty smiled, “That's just him.”

“Well if no one is dead then why are you here?” Mara asked.

“We...just...wanted to...surprise you.” Zane said, half delirious from the lack of oxygen.

“Well you should have just said so!” Mara gasped, throwing her hands up in the air. “And Zane, get your behind off that porch you're getting filthy and I will not have that tracked into the home.”

“Yes ma'am!” Zane laughed, reaching his hand out for Ty to help him off the ground and smiling as Ty walked behind him to brush him off.

“Smells great, ma.” Ty smiled as they walked towards the kitchen.

“Woulda made the good stuff if I knew my boys were coming today.” She shrugged.

She'd been including Zane in “her boys” for years now but every time she said it it still made his heart soar.

“We literally just decided to come five hours ago.” Zane laughed.

“And what were you doing awake at one in the morning?” Mara laughed.

“They was makin' love!” Chest yelled from the living room.

Zane felt himself flush a deep pink and Ty let out an awkward laugh.

“Don't be perverted you old coot.” Mara threatened him with her spatula. “Regardless, I'm glad you're here. How long will you be with us?”

“Figured we'd just stop by to get a quick bite to eat before heading home.” Ty shrugged.

Zane rolled his eyes and flicked him on the side of the head.

“Figured we'd stay until Monday morning, see if you needed any help around the house.” Zane smiled.

“As a matter of fact, I have been waiting to re-grout the bathroom floors!” Mara smiled.

“You did not just offer us up for work!” Ty gasped.

“Stuff like that's why Zane is my favorite.” Mara laughed, walking past him and pushing herself up on her toes to kiss his shoulder.

“I can never win.” Ty sighed.

“C'mon baby.” Zane smiled, “Let's go unpack.”

 

~*~

 

The pair split off early that morning after breakfast, falling into their usual roles with the designated parent. Ty was outside helping Earl with god knows what project and Zane hung back in the kitchen to help Mara clean and prep for later meals.

“I just love when you're here!” Mara laughed, “It makes cleaning up so much easier.”

“I'm always glad to be of service.” Zane smiled.

Mara put down her sponge and bottle of cleaner and turned to face him.

“How've you been, sweetie?” Mara asked.

“What do you mean?” Zane raised an eyebrow.

“I mean with everything.” Mara folded her arms over her chest. “Nightmares, your mother, Ty, life, work.”

“I'm uh...good.” Zane tried to smile.

“You wouldn't lie to me would you?” Mara narrowed her eyes at him.

Zane let out a deflated sigh and put the plate he was washing back in the sink before drying his hands off.

“The nightmares come and go. I don't really know what brings them on. One night I'm fine, the next I might end up a crying mess.” Zane frowned, “I was doing really well for a week or two and then last night I had one. It's why we were up at 1am.”

“Figured it was something like that.” Mara put her hand on his arm and pulled him into the living room.

“Ty thought coming up here might do me some good, mountain air and all.” Zane laughed.

“Last time he said that he almost got eaten by a mountain lion.” Mara rolled her eyes.

“That was my point.” Zane smiled. “He's right though, being here always does wonders for me.”

Zane smiled as she raised her eyebrow. He'd realized he never really told her how much this place means to him.

“Ever since the first time I cam up here with Ty this place has meant a lot to me. When I'm here it feels like I'm a part of this giant family I never really had. Even something as simple as helping you clean the kitchen is such a calming thing, it centers me, and I don't think I've ever really gotten to thank any of you for that.” Zane smiled.

“Don't got to thank anyone, far as I'm concerned you've been family since that first day and you woulda stayed that way even if you and Beaumont weren't together.” Mara laughed.

“Can I ask you a question?” Zane frowned.

“Of course.” Mara smiled.

Zane took a deep breath and tried to decided how to phrase himself.

“I'd prefer if it stayed between you and I for now?” Zane said tentatively.

“My lips are sealed, now spit it out.” Mara laughed.

“Do you think I'm too old to have a child?” The words rushed out of Zane's mouth so fast he barely understood them.

“Why would you ever ask such a question?” Mara laughed.

“I mean...I'm almost 50.” Zane said with a sigh.

“And your point is?” Mara raised her eyebrow.

“My point is I'd probably be dead by the time our kid graduated from college.” Zane frowned.

“Zane Garrett, I've heard you say some stupid ass things before but this is the stupidest of them all.” Mara scolded him.

“Sorry.” Zane sighed, “I just...never thought I'd want kids. Becky and I never walked about it, we just knew it wasn't in the cards for us. But Ty and I...”

“Have you two talked about it? He hasn't said anything to me.” Mara settled back in her chair.

“On and off. We always get interrupted whenever we have a serious discussion about it, like the universe is trying to stop us. We were going to talk about it on Christmas and then we got the call from Clancy and everything went to shit.” Zane frowned.

“Zane, sometimes you live your life too scared. Scared of what will happen to you, to Ty, and now to an imaginary child you may or may not have. You worry about the future too much. I love you, son, but you need to start living in the moment sometime.” Mara shook her head.

“I know...it's just that with everything that's happened to me how can I not be scared?” Zane protested, “I think about having a kid and then immediately think about me dying and leaving the kid alone. What kind of shit is that?”

Mara let out a long sigh before speaking again.

“The question is simple: do you want to have a child with Ty?” Mara said plainly.

“Yes.” Zane nodded.

“Do you think he wants to have one with you?”

Yes.”

“Then you have your answer.” Mara walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder. “You do know you don't have to adopt an infant, correct?”

“What?” Zane asked, confused.

“There are thousands of children in foster care who are older that no one wants to adopt just because of that. You don't need to have a baby, talk to Ty, see what he thinks. I've seen the way you two are with Sadie and Amelia and I think it would be a damn shame if a child didn't get to experience that while being yours. It's something to think about.” Mara gave him a hug, “Now get off your behind and get back in the kitchen with me, it's still a disaster!”

Zane let out a tense laugh and got up from the couch. He paused briefly to look out the window at Ty who was halfway up a tree with a tool belt wrapped around his waist. He shook his head and smiled. Maybe they could be parents after all.

 

~*~

 

“Why am I in this tree, dad?” Ty sighed as he steadied himself on the tree branch.

“Wanted to build a tree house for Amelia, figured if the thing was sturdy enough to hold you it could take her.” Earl laughed.

“So you're basically just waiting to see if I fall to the ground and die?” Ty yelled from his position in the tree.

“Well, I'd try to catch you before you hit the ground but basically.” Earl shrugged. "You wouldn't die from that height anyway."

“You're an ass.” Ty shook his head.

“Where do you think you got it from?” Earl laughed up at him.

Ty stood on the branch for a few minutes longer, walking the length of it to test it's sturdiness.

“I think this one will be good.” Ty said as he began to clear out the surrounding small branches to make room to work, “When do you want to start it?”

“No time like the present.” Earl said.

Ty looked down and saw Earl carrying over all manner of tools. He steadied himself and began the climb back down the tree. He wasn't too terribly high up but a fall from any height would probably hurt him and knowing his luck he'd end up with a broken hand.

“I've been awake since 1am and you want me to work with power tools?” Ty laughed.

“You came up here for a reason, right?” Earl shrugged.

“Mostly to give Zane a break from his own brain, not to play Extreme Makeover: Tree Addition.” Ty shook his head.

“Boy still having trouble with the dreams?” Earl asked with a frown.

“Yeah. It got better for a while and then they just popped back up last night. That's why we were awake at 1am.” Ty sighed.

“So he had a nightmare and your first thought was to bring him here?” Earl laughed.

“It seemed right. He likes it here, more than he'd ever admit to me. He likes being around all of you.” Ty smiled.

“Even me?” Earl laughed.

“Yes, dad.” Ty laughed and patted him on the back, “Even you.”

“Probably don't need to power saw for them branches, they're not too terribly thick.” Earl said, changing the subject.

“How many of them do we have to clear out?” Ty asked.

“Doesn't need to be a big thing, just good enough for her to have some fun in, give the kid something to do when she's here alone.” Earl laughed.

“Tree is probably about...fifteen, maybe twenty feet. The branches start around the seven foot point. I can probably clear out the parts between seven and nine just to be on the safe side?” Ty studied the tree with his hand on his chin.

There weren't too many branches between those points, if he started now he could be done clearing them in an hour or two. They could have the tree house done before the weekend was over if they put their minds to it.

“I'll just use the power saw, it'll get it over with quicker.” Ty shrugged.

“Don't come crying to me if you lose a hand.” Earl laughed.

Ty shook his head and strapped the tool belt across his waist. It was loaded with the standard tools and he strapped the power saw on it, making sure it was turned off and the safety cover was on it before he began his climb. He climbed to the highest point of the tree that he decided around the nine foot mark, and found the sturdiest branch to sit on. He wrapped his legs around the trunk of the tree and hoisted the small saw into his hands.

“Stuffs about to start falling, you clear?” Ty called down.

“Yep.” Earl yelled back up at him.

Ty pulled his safety glasses over his eyes and flipped the saw to the on position. He pulled the trigger and it began to buzz in his hands, he made contact with the branch and wood chips went flying as it dug deeper into it.

The sight made Ty freeze. The only thing he could think of was that room in the asphalt factory, the one with the band saw that was covered in blood. In an instant the tree limbs transformed into human ones and as he sawed into them he could see and feel the spurts of blood and skin flying all over his face. His head started spinning, he felt his hands go numb as his grip on the saw loosened and fell like a dangerous weight to the ground.

“What the fuck, Beaumont?” Earl screamed from the ground.

Ty couldn't make himself respond. All he could see were mangled limbs cut into with all manner of power tools. He was going to be sick. He felt it in his stomach as it began to rise through his body and before he knew it he was puking before his vision went black and he slumped against the tree trunk.

 

~*~

 

Zane was out the door and running the second he heard the commotion.

“What happened?” He yelled, coming to a stop next to Earl.

“No idea, he was there cutting off one of the branches then he stopped, dropped the saw, vomited, and I think he passed out up there. He's not responding.” Earl said in a worried tone.

“Ty? Ty can you hear me?” Zane yelled from the ground.

Shit. He wasn't answering. What the hell happened?

“I need to get up there, if he's really passed out we risk him falling any time.” Zane said frantically before taking off towards the tree and beginning the climb.

He was climbing the tree faster than he ever could have expected, swinging up and through the branches like a wild Tarzan on a mission, doing his best to avoid what was left over from Ty's puking episode. When he reached Ty he found him with his forehead against the tree and his eyes just fluttering open.

“Hey.” Zane said softly.

“What happened?” Ty groaned.

“Don't move too much, you're still in the tree.” Zane said, putting his hand on Ty's back.

“Did I puke from the top of a tree?” Ty asked with a sigh.

“That's what they tell me.” Zane laughed, “What happened?”

“I was cutting the branch with the saw and my brain flashed back to that room in the asphalt plant, covered in blood,  then all of a sudden I was seeing the branch as a leg or something and it just made me sick.” Ty shook his head.

“I don't think climbing a tree and working with power tools was the best thing to do after being awake for nine hours, doll.” Zane laughed.

“I have to agree with you.” Ty sighed.

“He's good.” Zane called back down below.

“Can you make it down, son?” Earl asked.

“Yeah, sorry, got a little light headed. Lack of sleep.” Ty tried to put on his best face for his father but Zane could tell he was bothered.

“Let's get you down from here, into the shower, and then nap, yeah?” Zane smiled.

“Sounds like a plan.” Ty laughed, “Thanks for coming up here to get me.”

“I really risked life and limb for you.” Zane said with a snicker.

“Bad pun penalty, Garrett.” Ty groaned.

 

 

 


	17. Chapter 17

 

 

 

Chapter 17

 

Ty woke with a pounding headache a few hours later. He didn't remember much in between coming down from the tree and crawling into bed. All he knew was that we was supremely embarrassed for the whole display. He was desperate to go back to sleep to avoid showing his face downstairs for as long as possible but the rhythmic banging of a hammer in the backyard prevented that from happening.

He stood up and stretched his long limbs before rubbing his temples in an attempt to ward off the headache, it didn't work and the damn hammer wasn't helping. He lumbered downstairs, ready to give whatever asshole was out there a piece of his mind.

The entire house was empty, he searched up and down and found not a single trace of a human being before he went outside where he found everyone crowded around the tree he was in earlier. Everyone except Zane. As it turned out, Zane was the source of the hammering.

Ty's eyes gaped as he looked up into the tree, Zane was shirtless and dripping with sweat. Ty gulped and shook his head to focus. The entire foundation of the tree house had been laid and Zane was just finishing nailing down the last of the floor boards. He'd done a shit ton of work while he was asleep.

“Should be good enough for today.” Zane said to Earl as he pounded in the last nail, “I can work on the walls and the roof tomorrow. Maybe put in a few more support beams under the floor just for the hell of it.”

“Where on earth did you learn to do something like this so well?” Mara laughed from the ground.

“My dad and I built a huge tree house together when I was younger, I guess all of the knowledge just stuck with me.” Zane laughed.

“The boy even made a rope ladder!” Chester exclaimed.

“Anyone can make a rope ladder, Chester.” Zane laughed as his body dropped through the opening in the floor and he climbed down the aforementioned rope ladder.

Ty let out an involuntary cough when he saw Zane's muscles flexing themselves as he worked his way down the ladder.

“Look who decided to join us.” Zane smiled, resting his hands on the tool belt around his waist.

“Hi.” Ty mumbled.

“I'm surprised you were up, you were sleeping like a log.” Zane winked.

Ty rolled his eyes and tried his hardest to fight back a smile.

“That's two bad pun penalties in one day. Keep trying it. I dare you.” Ty glared.

“OK, OK!” Zane held his hands up in defense, walking over to Ty and placing a kiss on his lips before leaning over to whisper in his ear, “I'll leaf you alone.”

Ty was too focused on his hand that rested on Zane's damp abs to register the pun. He shuddered as their lips met again and had to remind himself his parents were just feet away. It took all his willpower to push Zane away with a sigh.

“Feeling better?” Mara walked aver and asked.

“Yeah, just needed some sleep.” Ty mumbled

“Hungry? We're a few hours from dinner but I can make you a sandwich or something?” She asked.

“No, I think I can make it to dinner, stomach is still a little weird anyway.” Ty smiled and turned to Zane, “You did a lot of work while I was out, huh?”

“Yeah.” Zane laughed. “Your dad wanted it done before she came up next weekend so I decided to just do it myself, I'll finish it up tomorrow after breakfast.”

“I might be able to help with that.” Ty smiled before smacking him on the ass, “Go shower. You're disgusting.”

“I need to run to the hardware store to get the rest of what we need to finish this tomorrow, you coming with me Ty?” Earl asked.

“No.” Mara answered for him, “He's staying here and resting, not gallivanting off with you.”

“What she said.” Ty laughed, pointing at his mother while Earl walked away grumbling.

“Stop laughing and start chopping those carrots for me.” Mara narrowed her eyes.

“I thought I was supposed to be resting?” Ty protested.

“You can sit and chop them.” Mara shrugged and pulled him towards the kitchen.

Ty sighed and realized it wasn't worth the fight over a few carrots and pulled out a knife and went to work. He sat chopping as he thought about the tree house and Amelia playing in it. His and Zane's child playing in it.

“Amelia is gonna love that thing.” Mara laughed, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Yeah, the kids will love it.” Ty said.

“Kids?” Mara raised her eyebrow.

Ty was so caught up in his own thoughts that he hadn't realized he included his imaginary child in the scenario.

“I meant kid, as in Amelia.” Ty blushed.

“No you didn't.” Mara sighed and sat down in front of him. “Talk.”

“There's not much to talk about. I've been thinking a lot lately about how I really want a kid, or kids. It pops into my head at the most random of moments.” Ty shrugged.

“Have you talked to Zane?” Mara asked.

“Barely. Every time we do I get to feeling he doesn't really want them..” Ty trailed off.

“Hmm.” Mara hummed.

“What?” Ty asked, “You know something I don't?”

“Didn't say that.” Mara shrugged.

“Ma', tell me.” Ty begged.

“Can't tell what I don't know.” Mara smiled, “But if I did know something I'd say talk to that husband of yours.”

Ty wrinkled his face in confusion. What could his mother possibly know that he didn't? Had Zane talked to her about them having kids? He resisted the urge to go break in on him in the shower and demand to know what they talked about.

No, he had better plans for that conversation.

“Hey, Ma', can you help me with something?”

 

~*~

 

Zane pushed himself back from the table with a groan.

“That was a lot of food.” He laughed.

“Figured you worked up an appetite earlier.” Mara laughed, “How about you, Ty? You eat enough?”

“Yes.” Ty huffed. “Please. No more food.”

Zane laughed and leaned back in his chair. “I'll take the plates and start helping with the clean up when everyone is done.”

He saw Mara's eyes catch Ty's and wink.

“Don't worry about it, I can't take care of it myself.” Mara smiled.

“Oh please, you know I like helping.” Zane said slowly with a suspicious look on his face

“Not tonight you don't.” Mara laughed.

“I'm confused.” Zane huffed.

“She's saying you have plans with me tonight.” Ty rolled his eyes.

“Oh?” Zane smiled, “Where are we going?”

“Outside.” Ty shrugged.

“Wow, I've always wanted to go there!” Zane mocked him.

“Shut up and get your ass outside, Garrett.” Ty commanded.

“You watch your mouth at my table!” Mara scolded.

Zane just shook his head and went in the direction he was pointed in. He stepped out of the screen door and found nothing special or of note. He turned to meet Ty's eyes when he heard the door open.

“What are we doing out here?” Zane laughed.

“Shit, I forgot to turn them on. Hold on! Close your eyes! No peeking or I'll hurt you!” Ty warned.

Zane did as he was told, not that he valued Ty's threat, but this was clearly supposed to be something and he didn't want to ruin it for Ty.

“OK, you can open them now.” Ty said, the excitement evident in his voice.

Zane opened his eyes and his jaw dropped as he looked up at the trees in front of him. There were tiny lanterns strung  through them, illuminating the tree tops and the grounds in a warm and romantic light. His eye caught sight of the half finished tree house and saw that it was covered with fluffy and warm looking blankets and pillows.

“Ty...what is this?” Zane laughed.

“It's a romantic moment!” Ty insisted.

“It is, it really is. But why?” Zane smiled.

“Cuz I want to talk to you about something.” Ty mumbled.

Zane's brow furrowed but he figured it couldn't be a negative talk with the way this was set up.

“When did you even do this?” Zane laughed.

“While you were in the shower. Ma helped.” Ty smiled.

“There's no way you did all this in twenty minutes.” Zane shook his head.

“Really?” Ty laughed, “Did you not think it was weird that Chester spent another half an hour lecturing you on proper disposal techniques for recycling?”

“That was a distraction?” Zane gasped, “I thought it was just Chester being Chester!”

C'mon, lets get up there under the blankets, I'm freezing.” Ty laughed.

“Are we really stealing Amelia's tree house?” Zane laughed.

“It's not hers until next weekend...and it's not a tree house yet, it's more like a tree patio. Just get your ass up there so I can snuggle myself against you, I can't feel my hands.” Ty commanded.

Zane couldn't argue with that, cuddling with Ty up there was pretty high up on his to do list right now, even if he was anxious about this talk he wanted to have.

The view from the tree was incredible, the vast forest that stretched on forever in front of them was cast in beautiful shadows from the lights that formed a small, protective ring around them. Ty and Mara really went through a lot to do this in such a short time. They were protected from the hard and wooden floor by soft and comfy pillows and blankets, most of which Zane recognized from various rooms in the house.

When Ty joined him at the top they settled back onto one of the larger pillows, tangling their arms and legs together to form one conjoined entity, and pulled a big blanket over themselves. Zane could see the steam coming from Ty's mouth as he breathed and smiled.

“You said you wanted to talk about something?” Zane asked.

“Yeah...” Ty trailed off.

“Go for it. “I promise I wont bite. Unless you want me to.” Zane winked.

Ty responded by flicking him on the nose. “Not now, Zane.”

“OK, OK, I'm serious.” Zane smiled.

“I've been thinking a lot, especially over the last few months, about us. About where we go next. The one thing I keep coming back to is kids.” Ty said and looked at Zane, scanning for any kind of distress.

“Go on.” Zane smiled, kissing him briefly.

“I know we've talked about it a little bit but then shit always happens and we get distracted. We're not getting any younger, you and I. I feel like we're at the point where we either have to decide to do it or not.” Ty said with a wince.

Zane let out a breath and didn't respond, he was analyzing Ty's words. Ty knew how sensitive he was about his age and figured if Ty was bringing it up then he was wholly serious.

“Not that I'm trying to put any pressure or anything on you, or give you an ultimatum!” Ty hurried out, thinking maybe he'd gone a step too far.

“No, I get what you're saying.” Zane smiled.

“I guess I just want to know, do you see kids in our future?” Ty asked quietly.

“I didn't want to for the longest time, because of my own insecurities and hang ups, not yours.” Zane clarified quickly, “Like you said, we're not getting any older. I'll be 50 soon and if we had a baby right now I'd probably be walking with a cane at their graduation.”

“Don't say that.” Ty sighed.

“Wait, let me finish.” Zane said, putting a finger to Ty's lips. “But I talked to your mom today and it was a good talk. She told me to basically get my head out of my ass stop thinking about the inevitable end and think about the journey that will take me to that place. It made me realize that I've lived so much of my life thinking about how it would end that I never started to live for the moment. Not until I met you, at least. But kids were never in my plan, not with Becky at least.”

He paused for a moment to let his words sink into Ty before he continued.

“But I see you with Sadie or Amelia and my heart just melts and every time I watch you swing one of those girls through the air I can only imagine how much better it would look if it was our child. I want kids Ty, and I want them with you. I want to watch you be the amazing father I know you can and will be.” Zane could feel tears forming in his eyes now and laughed as they started to fall.

Ty leaned over to wipe them away and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

“I love you so much, Zane. Just thinking about sharing a child with you, the both of us raising and shaping some kids life makes me feel something I never thought I'd feel.” Ty was crying too.

“You mom mentioned something about my age hang up, you know?” Zane laughed.

“Oh yeah?” Ty smiled.

“Mhm. She said that there are plenty of kids who are older out there waiting for the day someone will pick them. But no one ever does because all anyone wants is a cute baby. I really, truly don't know if I could do an infant, Ty. I'm just being honest.” Zane trailed off.

“It's OK.” Ty smiled.

“But...I've thought about it all day today and adopting a kid who's maybe four, five years old? I can't think of anything more rewarding. I don't know if you want a baby, if you want to raise a kid from the very beginning. If you really, really wanted that I could come to terms with it, get over my own self and love the hell out of it...” Zane frowned.

“Honestly? I was thinking of an older kid too. All I could think about were kids like Kelly...dropped off at an orphanage and then just growing out of it because they were too old...” Ty trailed off and Zane knew he was fighting more tears. They both were.

“Plus...” Ty continued, “I don't know if I could handle a crying infant...just mentally...I'd be too afraid that it would kick off a PTSD flashback.”

Zane frowned and shook off the tears he was crying.

“After I talked to your mom earlier I might have called Alice while you were sleeping.” Zane laughed.

“Alice Abernathy?” Ty asked.

“Yeah. I couldn't really think of anyone else to talk to about it and I figured since she's run her charity all these years she'd know where to start or people to direct us to.” Zane smiled.

“What did she say?” Ty asked.

“She told me to call her after I talked to you and we were sure we truly ready and she'd make any call she had to and call in any favor she had to make it happen as long as we passed all the inspections. I'll call her first thing Monday when we get back to Baltimore.” Zane smiled.

“So...you're telling me we're going to be parents?” Ty grinned.

“That's exactly what I'm telling you, baby.” Zane said, pulling Ty onto his lap and pushing their lips together, furiously reveling in the moment. He would always remember this moment. They both would.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a little ashamed to admit that i made myself tear up while writing the end of this chapter.


	18. Chapter 18

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 18

 

Ty was bouncing around the kitchen with limitless excitement by the time they had finally climbed down from their place in the trees. He couldn't wait to get back to Baltimore on Monday and begin the process, however long it too, of becoming a father with Zane. He knew with all certainty that he wouldn't be able to think of much else for the foreseeable future.

“You have fun up there?” Mara laughed.

“We did.” Zane smiled.

“You're going to be a grandma again!” Ty blurted out as Zane let out a groan.

Mara began to jump in excitement while Earl offered a hand out to Zane.

“Don't get too excited just yet, we have to actually start the process on Monday and get approved in the first place. Alice Abernathy has some serious weight but even she can't work miracles.” Zane frowned.

“Can the two of ya even pass a background check with all the shit you've been through?” Chester laughed from his rocking chair, clutching his shovel in hand.

“Shut it, old man.” Ty snapped.

He had a point though, even a quick search could pull up a decades worth of chaos that had followed them wherever they went.

“Most of the really heavy stuff is classified or just doesn't exist, I'm honestly not too worried about it. I'm more worried about the fact that we're two men.” Zane sighed.

“It's 2016, dear. I don't think that matters much anymore.” Mara smiled.

“Yeah baby, I think they'll care more about the fact that I shot someone in the head in the store last year.” Ty laughed.

“Excuse me?” Earl choked.

“You did what now?” Mara gasped.

Oops.

“Oh, did I forget to mention that?” Ty awkwardly laughed as Mara and Earl surrounded him.

“You're on your own with this one.” Zane laughed as he headed upstairs towards their room.

 

~*~

 

It had been a nice few weeks off as they recovered. Neither he nor his partner had expected Zane Garrett to put up that big of a fight. He certainly didn't expect to end up stabbed and with a broken rib. His partner didn't expect the gunshot wound to the arm either. They had to be more careful with these two, they underestimated them. They thought that between the ambush and the traps they could at least take one of the two men out but they only succeeded in taking out three of the irrelevant ones. Well, he supposed killing an SAIC with a firebomb was a little more than irrelevant but it still wasn't his main target.

He'd been watching them on and off for the last few weeks, trying to learn their routines and patterns while they recuperated. He had to explain to his partner, more than once, why they couldn't just rush in and try to kill them. It wasn't about the death, it was about the show. And he had a perfect plan in mind for just exactly how he wanted it to go down. It would be beautiful. He bought an entire fucking building just to make it happen for god sake.

He stood there, back where it all began, or rather, ended. The blood stain was still on the floor, they city never gave a damn about cleaning the scene up and the building was abandoned by it's tenants shortly after the rent skyrocketed and then it went up for sale. He'd bought the building last year, just for the memories, but now he knew that this would be the place it would all end. One way or another, this place would be the end of the game once more. But this time it would hold a few special surprises.

They needed to get back in the game though, get their attention again, and so they needed to find their next sacrifice. Someone who wouldn't miss their head.

 

~*~

 

The crisp mountain air filled Zane's lungs as he took one last deep breath in, looking up at the completed tree house above him. It had been a long morning putting the thing together and he was ready to relax under the shower. Ty, of course, was in the kitchen being tended to by Mara after he hammered his thumb on accident. He was still deciding weather or not he should be taken to the hospital. It wouldn't be a trip to West Virginia without something happening to his hands. Zane sighed and made his way to the house.

“Still have all your fingers and toes?” Zane laughed as he walked in and saw Ty sitting with an ice pack on his thumb.

“For the moment, it's still early though.” Ty groaned as Zane placed a kiss on the crown of his head.

“Wanna go to the ER? They should have a room constantly on stand by for you by now.” Zane shook his head.

“He'll survive, ain't broken.” Mara laughed.

“How do you know, Ma'!” Ty protested.

“Cuz you can bend it, if it didn't bend it would be broken.” Mara shrugged.

“Kiss it and make it better.” Ty frowned, pathetically holding his hand to Zane's face.

Zane sighed and placed a tender kiss on Ty's black and blue thumb before leaning back down and placing another on his lips.

“Feel better.” Zane smiled.

“Not really.” Ty laughed.

“You're so annoying.” Zane sighed, turning away from the kitchen and heading upstairs to the shower.

Zane let out a compressed sigh as the hot water poured over his skin.

The events of the last few weeks played over and over in his mind as he stood there. They still had no closure to the copycat, the killer, or rather killers, were still out there and waiting. They would be stupid to think that they just gave up after their failed attempt at the asphalt factory. It made matters even worse that Clancy and Carson were basically benched from whatever investigation was being done into the killings now, they had no way of getting any information and he felt like they were in the same position as New York, just waiting for another murder for a clue.

He shook his head and sighed again. On top of all of that he and Ty had decided to go ahead with starting a family. He couldn't get the thought out of the back of his mind that their lives seemed like they would always be dangerous. Even when they weren't looking for it the trouble seemed to find them. He knew he'd have to keep reminding himself of what he said last night, that he couldn't keep living in fear of what could happen and instead focus on what is happening. His next therapy session was going to be a bitch.

 

~*~

 

“Where's the head?” Carson asked, taking appraisal of the scene.

“We...haven't found one yet.” The CSU officer admitted.

Carson shook his head and walked away. He'd woken up to the call about an hour ago and had fumbled his way out of bed and to the crime scene, much to the displeasure of the very attractive man who was in bed next to him.

Ever since the conversation with Zane in the hospital he'd begun to feel more comfortable with himself and opened up to the idea of having more than just random girls in his bed every night, now he could at least mix it up. But now wasn't really the best time to be thinking anymore about that.

He'd only come down to the scene because he suspected it was the reemergence of the copycat and a quick google of Poe and decapitation confirmed it for him, along with the pair of plastic devil horns at the scene. He flipped open his phone and called Clancy.

“Clancy.” She answered.

“We have another one.” Carson sighed.

“What?” Clancy asked.

“A body. The guys back.” Carson said flatly.

“What is it?” Clancy said cautiously.

“Single body. No head. Betting it's...inspired by Never Bet The Devil Your Head if google is telling me correctly.” Carson shook his head.

“I don't even know where to go from here.” Clancy groaned.

“There's not much we can do. I'm not even supposed to be here, the team from D.C. Who took over the case is already on their way. I just figured I'd call you and give you a heads up.” Carson shrugged.

“Thanks. What about Garrett and Grady?” Clancy asked.

“You wanna give them a call?” Carson laughed.

“They're out of town right now, I guess I can wait until they get back and then just go see them.” Clancy trailed off.

“We shouldn't make them wait. I'll just call Garrett, even though it will probably give Grady a heart attack.” Carson laughed.

“Why would Ty care that you called Zane?” Carson could hear the confusion in her voice.

“Uh, no reason. Just doesn't like me.” Carson lied and shook his head.

“Whatever, weirdo. Call me if you find anything else out.” Clancy sighed before hanging up.

Carson rolled his eyes and flicked through the contacts on his phone before finding Zane's number and calling it. He waited for a few rings before the voicemail picked up.

“You've reached Zane Garrett, I'm unavailable at the moment but if you leave a message I'll get back to you as soon as I can.”

The line beeped and he spoke into the recording.

“Hey Garrett, it's Carson. Sorry to call you out of the blue. I have an update for you, give me a call when you get this. It's important.” He shook his head and hung up the phone.

“Can someone find me that fucking head?” He yelled out into the crowd at the crime scene.

 

 


	19. Chapter 19

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 19

 

The buzzing of Zane's phone woke Ty from his insanely restful sleep.

“Answer your fucking phone, asshole.” Ty moaned to Zane.

He received no reply and the phone kept up it's rhythmic buzz on the nightstand.  
“Zane answer your fucking pho-” Ty began to yell, shooting up in bed before looking around the room, “Oh you're not in here.”

Ty huffed and flopped back down on the bed, rolling over to Zane's said to grab his phone and answer it without bothering to look at the caller ID.

“Hello?” Ty yawned into the phone.

“Garrett?” The voice on the other end asked.

“He is otherwise occupied at the moment, this is his better half, may I ask who's speaking?” Ty said in a formal and sarcastic tone.

“Grady? This is Carson, where's Zane?” Carson breathed into the phone.

“I assume he's downstairs making breakfast with Ma'.” Ty said absentmindedly into the phone, “What do you need him for?”

“I'm calling to confess my undying love.” Carson deadpanned.

“Just because you saved my life doesn't mean I won't kill you.” Ty said.

“There's been another murder, matched everything, just wanted to let the both of you know that our friends are back.” Carson sighed.

Ty wanted to throw the phone against the wall, he wanted to pretend like he didn't just hear what Carson said, that he didn't have to tell Zane and they could go back to being happy about the rest of their lives with children. But he couldn't. Paradise was over and the real world was dragging them back.

“Fuck. OK, thanks for calling. Anything we can do?” Ty let out a long breath.

“Nothing you can do. I shouldn't even be calling you but I bit the bullet for Clancy so she didn't have to risk getting in trouble again. I'll call you if I hear anything else.” Carson said before hanging up.

Ty stayed motionless in the bed for as long as he could manage before he became too twitchy. He needed to process everything and figure out when to tell Zane. He figured sooner rather than later and since they were driving back to the city today they'd have ample time to decide what they wanted to do.

He swung himself out of bed and pulled on halfway decent clothes before shuffling himself downstairs. The sight of Zane in the kitchen, wearing one of his moms aprons while he cooked for her made his heart swell. Mara usually did everything and the rest of the men in the house were either too lazy or too dumb to cook something properly so she usually never got to sit back and be treated herself unless they were at a restaurant.

“Wish that apron said kiss the cook.” Ty laughed.

“I don't think he'd mind.” Zane shrugged, setting down his wooden spoon and walking over to give Ty a welcoming kiss.

“Sleep well?” Mara asked from the table.

“Like a rock. Phone woke me up.” Ty yawned.

“Who was it?” Zane asked with a raised eyebrow.

“My secret girlfriend, I'll tell you about it later.” Ty shrugged as Zane rolled his eyes.

“If you're trading Zane in she better at least be able to cook.” Mara laughed from the table, “I look forward to being pampered a bit when Zane is here.”

“I live to serve.” Zane laughed and bowed before flipping the pancakes he had going in the cast iron pan. “I need to get one of these.”

“Take the extra one I have above the fridge.” Mara insisted.

“Oh no, it's fine. I'll just go out and buy one when we get home.” Zane laughed.

“You will do no such thing, Zane Garrett!” Mara scolded him, “The beauty of a cast iron is that they're old and have been used thousands of times, that's how you get the best cook. Ain't no sense in buying a shiny brand new one. You take that extra one or I'm throwin' it at your head.”

“Yes ma'am!” Zane laughed, “Just don't let me forget it before we head out after breakfast.”

“What're you two gonna do about your house with kids?” Mara slyly asked.

“What do you mean, Ma'?” Ty raised an eyebrow.

“Well, if you want more than one it's not big enough!” Mara laughed, “You would all be on top of each other in that narrow little place.”

“I really hadn't thought of that.” Zane laughed.

“Me either.” Ty admitted.

Now that he thought of it though, she was right. The row house was the perfect size for the two of them alone but they had quickly learned last year when Annie, Mark, and Sadie stayed with them for a few days that it was absolutely painful to accommodate anyone more than the two of them over a long period of time. Not to mention that if they had more than one kid there would be no more bedrooms left in the place and no room for any of them to have personal space.

“I think it's something we'll think about more when we really find out what we'd be getting into after talking to Alice later.” Zane smiled.

Something told Ty though that sooner or later he and Zane would be getting that home that belonged to the both of them just as he had planned with the store.

Ty decided to tell Zane as they were packing the rest of their things after breakfast.

“The call from earlier...it was Carson.” Ty sighed.

“And?” Zane frowned.

“There's another one. Some poor guy with his head cut off...and they can't find it.” Ty fell back onto the bed.

“Never Bet The Devil Your Head.” Zane said flatly.

“What?” Ty laughed.

“The Poe story, it's one of my favorites, actually.” Zane fell to the bed next to Ty.

“What now?” Ty frowned.

“Dunno. Not much we can do. We don't have any resources or any way to find these guys. We just have to wait.” Zane shrugged.

“I hate waiting.” Ty sighed.

“Me too.” Zane rolled over onto his stomach and looked at Ty.

“How are we supposed to plan for kids when there's two crazy people going around murdering people because of us?” Ty huffed.

“It's not something we can really control...we can't put a hold on everything just because of that.” Zane frowned.

“What if they don't catch the guy and we have to wonder forever if they're out there, and then we have kids and something happens.” Ty could feel himself getting frantic.

“Give everything we've been through together I don't think there would be anyone more qualified to protect our children in the event of something like that.” Zane smiled.

“But it's not fair, is it? Serial killers, the CIA. It's not like we live a totally low key life.” Ty was vibrating in place in the bed.

“Are you having second thoughts?” Zane frowned.

“No, not at all. I want this so fucking bad. I just don't know if our lives want this for us.” Ty let out a breath.

“We can put off on calling Alice until after these guys go down?” Zane offered.

“No. If we're going to do it we need to do it now...it's just a lot to process.” Ty sighed.

“I know baby, I know.” Zane put a hand on his chest and kissed him tenderly.

“I'm driving.” Ty insisted, “I need something to focus on.”

 

~*~

 

“Hi Alice, it's Zane.” Zane said, reclining on the balcony of the row house and looking out at the street below.

“Zane! So nice to hear from you again, I've been looking forward to your call all day.” Alice said.

“Thank you so much for offering to help us along in this process, I don't think we'd ever get anything done without you.” Zane sighed.

“The attitude towards same sex adoption has lightened a lot in the past few years, I think you could make it over that hurdle without my help.” Alice laughed.

“Well there's that and then there's also...Ty and I's colorful past. There's probably about 20 to 30 police reports involving us in dangerous situations and that not even counting the stuff we've done with the FBI.” Zane laughed.

“Oh.” Alice chuckled, “Don't worry, I've been doing my research. I've been able to pull up just about everything that an agency would be able to see through the connections I have access too. Some of it could potentially be problematic but a good majority of it just shows you as protective and capable people. I can polish up pretty much anything.”

“And...the rehab?” Zane said tentatively with a wince.

“There's no offical record of you ever going, I'm assuming it was covered up by your superiors. Granted, if they really decided to do some digging into your background they might be able to find it but I can't really see a reason for them to want to. Especially if I'm behind you.” Alice reassured him.

“You really don't have to do all this, if we're not deserving then...” Zane trailed off.

“Oh shut up, you're more than deserving. So what if you and Ty are psychotic daredevils who dive head first into any dangerous situation? I'm fairly confident neither of you are evil or a serial killer and I can't imagine you wouldn't change your decision making skills when it came to protecting more than just each other.” Alice laughed, “That being said, if you take a child into a gun fight I'm going to be very upset.”

“Noted.” Zane laughed, “Listen, we've been talking about it and the both of us think it would be best for us to adopt an older child.”

“Really?” Alice was taken aback, “That's something you very rarely hear in my line of work.”

“Yeah, between Ty and I we'd just feel better with something other than an infant. Plus, like you said, older kids get overlooked so much. We have a friend who was in foster care until he was phased out of it because he was too old and it just...breaks my heart.” Zane sighed.

“How old are you thinking?” Alice asked.

“Five, six? Maybe four?” Zane shrugged.

“I can make some calls to colleagues around the area down there whenever you want me to get started.” Alice said.

“Thanks, Ty and I will talk it over some more and I'll give you a call back sometime later this week?” Zane asked.

“Sound's like a plan, I'll talk to you soon.” She hung up.

Zane took a minute to breathe in deeply while looking at the scenery, he couldn't believe e this was all so close to happening. He also couldn't believe there was still a fucking serial killer out there too.

Zane's attention was caught by a FedEx trucking pulling in front of the row house. He watched as the driver got out of the car and carried a box to their doorstep. He didn't remember ordering anything but with Ty he never knew.

“Ty.” Zane called into the house, “Did you order something online?”

“No? Why?” Ty yelled back.

“Because FedEx just came and delivered something.” Zane said, rising from the chair and walking back into the house.

“I really don't remember ordering anything, baby.” Ty laughed.

“Who knows?” Zane sighed, “I'll go get it and see what the hell it is.”

Zane took mental measurements of the house as he walked downstairs and Mara was right, this place was not nearly big enough for a family. It was just another thing they had to add to the growing list of things that made their life more difficult. He had to admit though, the idea of house hunting with Ty did sound pretty great. And also terrifying because he knew they were never going to agree on anything.

When Zane opened the door all he found was a single, unassuming brown cardboard box. He bent to pick it up and strained when it was heavier than he anticipated. He made note of how cool the box felt to the touch but rationalized that it was because of the weather, until he opened it.

He took a step back in pure shock when he saw what was inside the box.

“Ty!” Zane screamed, “You might want to call Clancy right the fuck now.”

He closed his eyes, hoping it was just one of his nightmares, and when he opened them it was still there. Looking back up at him from the box, surrounded by pounds of ice, was a severed human head with plastic devil horns on it. In the mouth of the head there was a card that had five simple words written on it.

“See you in New York.”

 


	20. Chapter 20

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 20

 

“How much longer is this severed head going to sit on my counter?” Ty sighed.

Clancy and a rather low key crime scene unit had just arrived at the row house and were beginning their once over of the box.

“Until I'm satisfied.” Clancy shrugged.

“Is this all that there is?” Zane asked, looking around the room and indicating to the four other agents.

“I assumed you wanted this taken care of in an under the radar fashion? If you want I can go ahead and call in the whole dog and pony show and go door to door telling your neighbors someone delivered you a human head?” Clancy smiled.

“Right, because they need even more reasons to think we're in some kind of fucking cult.” Ty shook his head.

He could only wonder what his neighbors thought of him. He knew the frat guys loved him because of his occasional supply of alcohol but with as many people that had been killed in or around their house it would be hard to imagine them having a pretty picture of him. Maybe it was best that they sell the place and move.

“Is Carson joining us?” Ty asked with an eye roll.

“No,” Clancy said, “He's going to call in a minute and then we're going to patch in McCoy. Seems he's had enough time to cool down from the asphalt plant mess and wants to go over our next move.”

“Next move?” Ty asked.

“Yeah, I thought we were done with this? All of us?” Zane wondered.

“From what I gather he figures the four of us either get back on the job and figure it our or we die and he doesn't have to worry about all the paperwork.” Clancy shrugged.

“Was he always this big of an asshole?” Zane shook his head.

“I tried to tell you! He liked to play it off like he had some kind of soul in there but I always knew from the beginning that he was just in it to climb the ranks.” Ty huffed.

“Regardless of his motivations he's giving us carte blanche to do this how we see fit.” Clancy shrugged again.

“So it's basically an off the books mission for Burns.” Ty shook his head. So much for never going back into the field. Having a human head delivered to your front door tends to change your plans. 

“And we've had great experiences with them.” Zane rolled his eyes as Clancy's phone began to beep, Carson's name flashing across the screen.

“You're here with the three of us.” Clancy answered.

“And the head.” Ty laughed.

“Morbid.” Carson said through the other end of the line. “Heard from McCoy yet?”

“No, he said he'd call in an hour, it's been about that.” Clancy said.

“Find anything with the box?” Carson asked.

“Not off the bat, just the head itself and the note.” Clancy huffed.

“See you in New York.” Zane repeated.

“They want to take it back to where it all began.” Carson sighed.

“This is so fucked.” Ty groaned.

“How do the three of you want to play it?” Carson asked.

“Can't really make a call before McCoy.” Clancy said.

“Fuck McCoy!” Carson barked. “Our friends are dead because of him and his shitty calls. How do we want to get this done? Grady, I know you've got some idea kicking around that fucked up brain of yours.”

“I say the four of us go to New York and kill them.” Ty shrugged.

“New York is pretty big, doll.” Zane laughed.

“They want us in New York for a reason. They want it to have a connection with the first murders. They're desperate to be a part of it. I don't think it would take long to track something down knowing what we know.” Ty said flatly.

“So what?” Carson began, “In an idea world we leave tonight and fly into the city and track them down?”

Ty was about to respond when the other line of the phone buzzed, it was McCoy. Clancy connected the three way call and the voice came out of the speaker.

“I'm going to make this as brief as I possibly can,” McCoy started, “I know three of you very well and I know you will not leave this alone. I assume the same for you, Carson. I've been briefed on the box and the note inside and assume you want to go to New York. I can approve this as an off the books black ops mission. There will be no record, there will be no backup. If the four of you go you're going in off the grid and alone. If you agree to that then so be it. However, Carson and Clancy, you are heads of two field offices. Today is Thursday, if you are not back by Monday then that will no longer be your position, do you understand.”

“Yes.” Clancy and Carson said simultaneously.

“Alright. There is a credit card with no limit and two official badges on the way to Garrett and Grady's home. Use it however you see fit.” McCoy hung up.

“This is some seriously fucked up deja vu.” Ty shuddered. “Did we not have almost that same exact conversation with Burns when we went back?”

“Yeah.” Zane sighed.

“And Burns was trying to fucking kill us!” Ty shook his head.

“Maybe he really is hoping we'll all get killed.” Carson laughed through the phone.

“That's not funny.” Clancy sighed.

“How do we play this then?” Carson asked.

“We fly down in two groups, Ty and I will leave tonight, you two follow on the next flight a few hours later just in case we're being watched. We don't want to be predictable.” Zane said.

“Then what?” Clancy asked.

“I have an idea on where to start, there's a reporter that was sniffing around us a few weeks back, she said she's been following the thing since the beginning. Ty and I will go to her, promise whatever we have to to get any information she may know. If she's really been looking at this from the jump she may have seen something we haven't.” Zane said.

“Should we all stay together?” Ty asked.

“If it was just one killer I'd say no but since we know there's two I'd say that in terms of where we stay there is safety in numbers.” Zane nodded.

“Carson, how fast can you be here?” Zane asked.

“Two hours or so, give or take traffic.” Carson said.

“As soon as the card gets here I'll book the tickets. Pack and head out now.” Zane said.

“You got it, boss. Hanging up.” Carson said before the line clicked dead.

“I forgot how sexy you are when you're planning an operation.” Ty purred.

“Can you not make that kind of sound when I'm here and there's a head in a box in front of us.” Clancy laughed.

“Do you have everything you need, Michelle?” Zane asked.

“I'll need to run home and pack really quickly. What are we doing about guns?” Clancy sighed.

“The badges will get us through security with everything we need. I'd say two guns, spare ammo, and any knives or other small defensive weapons you want to bring.” Zane shrugged.

“You're creepy when you're calculating.” Clancy laughed.

“I'd feel better with an assault rifle.” Ty shook his head.

“Wouldn't we all, doll. Wouldn't we all.”

 

~*~

 

The airport was bustling around them a few hours later. The package from McCoy had arrived on time and he had booked the group two separate flights two hours apart. Clancy and Carson stayed back further in the airport to avoid suspicions just in case they were in fact being followed. Zane looked around at the thousands of people around he and Ty. Any of them could be the killer, he thought.

He looked back at Ty and had to resist the urge to smile and pull him into a life threatening kiss. They were sitting almost exactly where they sat in 2008 that night they took their first flight together to New York. It seemed like a different life, almost.

“You're gawking.” Ty laughed, looking at him from the corner of his eye.

“Just taking in the deja vu of it all.” Zane smiled.

“It is really fucking weird.” Ty admitted.

“At least we don't hate each other this time.” Zane shrugged.

Ty laughed and got out of his seat, holding his hand out for Zane as their boarding was called. They walked hand in hand through the airport, in stark contrast of their first time together in this place. Before they could reach their line Zane's thoughts were cut off by Ty giving his hand a firm squeeze while looking at him with a smile.

“Listen up, cuz I'm only gonna say this once,” Ty smiled as they walked to their gate. “I don’t sleep when I fly. I talk. And I always listen when I eat, understand? I wanna be buddies. I wanna chat,” he said with a sincere lilt to the word. “I wanna know about your childhood and how your father is amazing and how much you love your sister and adorable niece. I wanna hear about how you want to be a father someday or how many kids you want or how proud of yourself you are for overcoming all you've had to in your life. I wanna go shopping at Barney’s with you, and I’m gonna help you pick out your ties to match your socks and, I swear to God, if you get shot, I’ll kill you.”

As he followed Ty through the boarding gate he couldn't decide if he would rather cry or pull him into the bathroom and rip his clothes off. He still remembered those words he'd said all those years ago and now, hearing them reflected back at him with all new meaning made him feel something deep inside. A pure and burning love for his husband, the wild, inconsiderate, rash, crazy, loving, pure, fun, amazing, perfect, asshole, Ty Grady.

 

~*~

 

“You've sure had a change of heart with those two.” Clancy laughed at Carson, pointing to Ty and Zane as they made their way through the airport.

“Almost dying has a way of making you realize how shitty you were.” Carson shrugged.

“I'm not blind, you know.” Clancy laughed, giving Carson the side eye.

She'd recognized it from the very beginning when she saw Zane and Carson meet. Carson had a thing for Zane and he had it bad. She wasn't even surprised. At this point she figured every man who came into her life would be bisexual.

“I don't know what you mean.” Carson said, casually sipping his coffee.

She didn't pursue it any further, it wasn't her place to out him or force him to tell her something he didn't want to. She just couldn't resist giving him a friendly rib after all the things he'd said about her and her friends. She'd grown to respect the man and as she sat across from him she knew that there wasn't anyone else she'd trust more to be by their side. They sat in silence for a few more minutes until Carson spoke.

“Fine. Zane and I almost had sex like ten years ago.” Carson said, casually taking another sip of his coffee.

Clancy was mid sip of her coffee as well, except she not so casually spit it all over the table in front of her. Carson looked up from his paper briefly with a raised eyebrow before returning his eyes back to the words in front of him.

“You what?” Clancy gasped, trying to recompose herself.

“Did you not understand the first time? We tried it, I freaked out, then I saved his husbands life a few years later.” Carson shrugged.

“Why are you even telling me this?” Clancy laughed.

“Figured if we're going to die and or get fired on Monday I might as well tell you've I've seen your best friend naked.” Carson smiled and winked at her.

“I swear to god everyone here is so fucking incestuous.” Clancy shook her head and got up for a replacement cup of coffee.

 

~*~

 

Ty sprawled himself out in the first class cabin with a shit eating grin. When they'd asked him at the gate if he'd like to upgrade their tickets for first class for “only” $500 he jumped at the chance to say yes before Zane could even stop him. Now he got to fly stress free, away from children kicking the back of his seat, gross people coughing all around him, and with a mimosa. If you were going to give him a car with no limit and he hated you then he was going to make you back for it.

“What do you say we go out to the most expensive restaurant we can find and order everything on the menu?” Ty smiled at Zane.

“We're here to catch killers, Ty.” Zane laughed.

“You can still be hungry and catch killers, Zane.” Ty pointed back at him.

“Tell you what, if we don't die I'll take you wherever you want to go and we'll bill it all to McCoy.” Zane smiled, leaning over to kiss him.

“Deal.” Ty grinned. “So what's the plan when we get into the city?”

“Find a place to stay when track down Renne.” Zane shrugged.

Ty wasn't exactly sold on the whole plan of hoping a random reporter could actually help them locate the two serial killers who the FBI had been hunting for the last month and a half but Zane seemed to think it would be worth it.

“I say we find a Holiday Inn.” Ty laughed.

“For old time's sake?” Zane asked.

“Mhm.” He leaned in to whisper into Zane's ear, “And I want to make you cum in the shower again.”

“Ty!” Zane coughed.

“Then I want you to fuck me against the counter in the bathroom, then the bed...” Ty trailed off.

“Ty!” Zane blushed, “We have a job to do!”

“Doesn't mean we can't have fun. Didn't stop us last time.” Ty winked.

“Please stop making me hard in first class.” Zane mumbled.

“I couldn't stop even if I wanted to.” Ty bit his lip.

 

~*~

 

“Watch out for the cabs, if one starts freaking you out shoot first and ask questions later.” Ty warned.

Zane shook his head and kept walking. They'd officially been in the city for just under and hour and were killing time while trying to find a place to stay.

“What about the Hyatt?” Zane asked.

“No need, I just booked us the presidential suite at the Ritz.” Ty smiled.

“Tyler.” Zane said calmly, “How much is that?”

“Like $900 a night.” Ty shrugged.

“And how many nights did you reserve?” Zane asked.

“Five.” Ty said plainly.

“McCoy is going to kill you.” Zane sighed.

“Don't care.” Ty rolled his eyes. “There's three rooms in it so it gives us space for all of us. Wait until I get to the mini bar.”

“Hell hath no fury like a Grady scorned, huh?” Zane laughed. “I called the reporters office, she's out until tomorrow and no one will give me another way to contact her.”

“So...we have an entire day of doing nothing?” Ty grinned.

“Sounds like it.” Zane laughed.

“And Carson and Clancy are still an hour behind us?” Ty said with a devious glint in his eye.

“Mhm.” Zane hummed.

“What do you say we go check in and then christen our insanely expensive hotel room while we still have the chance then?” Ty laughed, grabbing Zane by the wrists and dragging him towards the waiting hotel.

 

 

 


	21. Chapter 21

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 21

 

Clancy sighed as they stood in the elevator making the long ascent to the top floor. The last she'd heard from Ty and Zane had been an hour ago when they told her what hotel they were all staying at. He neglected to inform her they they were all staying together in the presidential suite and that they had to take a damn near six minute elevator ride just to get there.

“Is this thing ever going to end?” Clancy groaned.

“Don't like being trapped with me in a confined space for so long?” Carson asked.

“Not really, no. I barely made it through being stuck on a flying tube of metal with you. Anyone ever told you that you're a terrible flyer?” Clancy sighed.

“All the time. Not my fault we're on the job and I can't take a Xanax to calm me down.” Carson laughed.

“I'm going to need a Xanax after being stuck in a room with the three of you for the next few days.” Clancy shook her head.

“Have we heard from the loving couple since we touched down?” Carson rolled his eyes.

“No. Which means they're either dead or they've been fucking for the past hour. I don't know which would make me more upset to walk in and see.” Clancy shrugged as the elevator finally came to a stop.

“I'm not convinced Ty won't try to kill me sometime this weekend and pass it off as the copycat.” Carson laughed.

“I doubt it, you saved his life.” Clancy smiled.

“Almost sleeping with his husband might overwrite that.” Carson sighed.

“Oh, shit. He knows?” Clancy laughed, “Yeah, you're probably dead. Grady has a thing with jealousy, it's kinda cute.”

“Cute until I'm dead.” Carson deadpanned.

Clancy shook her head and slid the key into the hotel door, opening it up slightly to call a warning into the room.

“We're coming in, please make sure all your clothes are on.” Clancy laughed.

“We're not naked you assholes.” Ty growled from inside the room.

“Just making sure!” Clancy smiled and walked inside.

“Get any work done?” Carson asked, following her into the room.

“No.” Zane sighed, “Our best lead is out of the office today and won't be back until tomorrow.”

“She's a pipe dream, not a lead.” Clancy sighed.

“Better than nothing.” Ty shrugged from the corner.

“I'm starving.” Carson sighed before he was hit in the head with a room service menu.

“Did you just throw a menu at him?” Zane laughed.

“You're so immature.” Clancy shook her head.

“We could always go to the sites of the old crime scenes and see if maybe they left anything at them? Assuming we'd be coming?” Zane asked.

“That's actually not a terrible idea.” Clancy laughed.

“Aside from it being a needle in a haystack.” Ty shrugged.

“Not really.” Carson corrected him, “Actually, there's only one public scene left. That old cemetery.”

“Then lets go after we eat, it'll give us something to do other than sit around and wait for tomorrow.” Zane shrugged.

 

~*~

 

The feeling of deja vu that had been ever present in his mind didn't leave Ty when they stood in front of the giant iron gates of the cemetery. Last time he was here was with Zane and it didn't go over too well. It reminded Zane of all that he'd lost in his life and it shut him down. Ty felt a pang of regret and sadness fill him now when he thought about how he'd treated Zane on that day. How he didn't really care about his emotions or why he was feeling what he was. All it had done was piss him off and now he was mentally kicking himself over an old regret he didn't even know he had.

“You gonna be OK?” Ty whispered, leaning into Zane's ear.

“What do you mean?” Zane laughed.

“Last time we were here you kinda...reacted to this place...” Ty trailed off.

“Oh.” Ty saw a small frown flash on Zane's face, “No. I'll be fine. I'm not the same person I was back then.”

Ty smiled as he felt Zane's hand grasp his and they took the steps into the cemetery with Clancy and Carson trailing behind them.

“So what are we even looking for?” Zane sighed.

“Anything weird, I guess, it's been a long time since I've examined a scene.” Ty rubbed the back of his head with his free hand.

“We should split up, we'll cover more ground faster.” Carson offered.

The four of them nodded and broke off into individual search parties. Ty didn't bother arguing with it, the cemetery wasn't exactly that huge and he could keep an eye on Zane the entire time. His eyes scanned the graves and the surrounding ground looking for anything. Fresh flowers, notes, upturned stones, anything that could give away recent activity. Nothing was standing out to him so far until he realized that he was near the area of the cemetery where the body was found. He closed his eyes to try and recreate and old scene but couldn't exactly place where the body was.

“Zane?” he called over his shoulder, “Do you remember where the woman's body was found?”

Ty waited for a moment as Zane walked through the rows to come and meet him.

“I know it was around this area...” Zane trailed off.

Ty closed his eyes again trying to make an image pop in his mind.

“Wait!” Zane exclaimed, “I remember.”

Zane grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him towards the rows of mausoleums near their position, they winded through them and came face to face with what they were looking for. Ty recognized the area immediately upon seeing it. The only thing that was different now was the red rose sitting in the exact spot where the body had been found. Below it was a single white card. Ty opened it and a small golden house key clanged as it fell out of the card and to the stone below.

“What the hell?” Zane asked.

Ty held up the card and read it out loud.

“Welcome home.” He sighed as he bent down to pick up the small key and examine it in his hands.

“Carson! Clancy! We have something!” Zane called from behind him.

Ty held up the key and examined it, there was nothing special to it, just a regular house key. There had to be something else, something they were missing.

“Welcome home?” Clancy sighed behind them.

“What does that even mean?” Carson asked.

“None of this makes any sense.” Zane began, “How did they even know we would come here?”

“They're smarter than we give them credit for, they know exactly what we'll do.” Ty shook his head, “I don't like this.”

“Do you think the rose means anything?” Clancy asked.

“I don't know if any of this means anything.” Ty sighed.

“I'm scared to even take this key back to the hotel room.” Carson laughed.

“God, with our luck it's probably a bomb or something.” Zane shook his head.

They searched the rest of the cemetery top to bottom over the next half hour. Ty was family sure the only thing that had been left for them was the key but he was too tired and confused to argue the point.

“Are we just supposed to go around to random doors trying to unlock them?” Zane let out a breath.

“I say we call it a night and head back to the hotel, we're not going to find anything else here.” Clancy said.

“I'm with her.” Carson said.

Ty was silent as they left the cemetery, he couldn't shake the feeling that they were missing the biggest piece to this whole puzzle.

 

~*~

 

Zane stood on the balcony of the hotel room the next morning. It was surprisingly calming to be so high up and able to observe the organized chaos on the streets below. The bright sea of yellow cabs cutting their way through downtown, the small dots of people all moving along at the fastest pace possible, desperate to get whatever they were going. It must be nice, he thought, to only worry about not missing the subway rather than trying to find a serial killer.

He stretched back in his seat, his arms and legs flexing as he pushed and pulled them inwards like a cat. Today was a morning when he was most certainly feeling his age, his bones felt like they were creaking and his back hurt every time he moved. Getting old wasn't a fun feeling.

“Hey.” A soft voice came from behind him.

“Hey to you too.” Zane smiled at Ty.

“Brought you a coffee.” Ty said, handing him the steaming cup.

“Thanks.” Zane smiled, “How did you sleep?”

“Fine...I guess. Couldn't really concentrate much on anything but that key. You?” Ty asked.

“Got a few hours. I woke up around five and I've been out here ever since.” Zane said.

“You should have asked for company.” Ty frowned.

“I wanted to let you sleep.” Zane smiled.

He watched as Ty strode across the balcony and hung his head over, looking down at the people below and sighing.

“Two of those people could be our guys.” Ty said, turning his head back to Zane.

“Could be.” Zane shrugged.

“Hear from our reporter?” Ty asked.

“Yeah, about an hour ago. She said she'd be in around 11am. Still got a few hours left.” Zane said.

“Wanna go down and get something to eat? I think Clancy and Carson are still passed out.” Ty laughed.

“Sounds like a plan.” Zane smiled, “I'm starving.”

Zane spent the long ride from the top floor to the lobby with Ty in his arms, mostly as a form of comfort for Ty who he knew felt uncomfortable being in such a small space for that extended of a time. They both let out a compressed breath when the doors finally opened and they were free to spill into the lobby.

They made their way to the breakfast buffet, Zane opting for a fresh made omelet while Ty went for blueberry pancakes. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Zane finally spoke.

“If we have a chance to bring these guys in alive, do we?” Zane questioned.

“You mean do we kill them only if we have to or do we make sure they're arrested and held accountable?” Ty raised his eyebrow.

“Yeah.” Zane sighed.

“What do you want to do?” Ty smiled.

“The latent sociopath in me wants to kill them.” Zane shrugged.

“It's kind of something we have to play by ear, I think, unless they hurt you, then I'm killing them. Slowly.” Ty shook his head.

“Likewise.” Zane smiled.

 

~*~

 

The New York Daily Global office was small and cozy, nothing compared to the frantic newsrooms Carson had been in before. The four of them sat in a ring in the main room, waiting for Renne Nigh to greet them. Carson sat back and watched Clancy, Garrett, and Grady as they interacted. The three of them seemed to have an unspoken ability to communicate with each other at times. It made him slightly jealous. He'd never really had any friends like that in his life. He'd heard the stories about their fight against the Cartel, about how Clancy and the rest of her team dropped everything to fight with Grady and Garrett, how two of them had died, and all the other wild rumors that turned out to be more truthful than not. His eyes narrowed at Ty and Zane. How did these two inspire so much confidence? How did they make everyone want to throw themselves into the line of fire for them? He couldn't deny that their energy was electric, working with them made you feel something, even if it was hatred and annoyance. He'd seen how Ty and Zane both commanded situations and it was admirable. Hell, he'd thrown himself out of a window to save Ty. A small part of him hoped that, if they survived, it wouldn't be the end of the four of them and their relationship together.

“So sorry to keep you waiting.” Renne's voice broke his thoughts.

“Not a problem, thank you for making time for us.” Zane smiled.

“I have to say, I was surprised to get your call. And that you were here in the city.” Renne laughed. “My office is this way, follow me.”

The four of them stood and Carson trailed behind, following the line of people to the corner office.

“What can I do for the four of you?” Renne smiled.

“We were hoping you knew anything we didn't about the copycat.” Clancy offered.

“What more could I know that the FBI doesn't?” Renne laughed.

“You've been devoting yourself to this full time for months, maybe there's something you caught that we didn't.” Zane offered.

“You tell me what you know and I'll tell you what I do.” Renne challenged.

“Most of what we know is classified, I'm sorry.” Carson spoke up.

“I don't work for free, either we trade information or I'm going to have to show you out.” Renne shrugged.

“Fuck it.” Ty spat, “I don't work for the FBI, what do you want to know?”

“Whatever you have to tell me.” She smiled.

Carson listened in horror as Ty recapped almost the entire investigation for her. He'd never been on an off the books assignment before but he was pretty sure you couldn't just tell reporters the details of your entire investigation.

“That is...a lot of information.” Renne sighed when Ty finished his rundown.

Carson made note of Clancy with her head in her hands and Zane sitting in a chair in the corner laughing in disbelief at Ty's blatant disregard for protocol.

“Listen, I just told you everything because we're running out of time. Clearly you know something or you wouldn't have leveraged it. Spill.” Ty demanded.

“You really don't know about the website?” Renne sighed.

“Website?” The four of them asked in unison.

“The one dedicated to the original killer.” Renne raised her eyebrow.

“What the fuck?” Clancy gasped.

“It's on the deep web, I ran into it when I first started looking into everything.” Renne said.

“And what does a reporter do just casually surfing around the deep web?” Carson raised his eyebrow.

“I'm good at what I do. They hired me for a reason.” Renne shrugged.

“OK, so what's on this site?” Clancy asked.

“I could tell you,” Renne began, “or I could show you.”

“Fine, show us.” Zane said with a wave of his hand.

Renne walked to her filing cabinet and unlocked the bottom drawer, reaching in and pulling out an older laptop.

“I don't use my personal computer for this stuff.” She laughed.

Carson joined the group behind her and watched as she booted up the older laptop, it took a few minutes to spring to life before she was opening up a proxy server and signing in. Carson watched as lines of green code flashed across the screen as she input the correct commands to grant her access to the underbelly of the internet.

“You're brave.” Zane laughed, “Even I don't fuck around with this place and I was in cyber crimes for years.”

She was silent as she pulled up the tri-state killer site. All of their faces went blank when it loaded. It was a completely black screen save for the words written across it in red, _quoth the raven “Nevermore”_

Clicking the word nevermore granted access to the main page and Carson heard Ty audibly gasp as photos of Tim Henninger filled the screen and offered details on his life. Drop down links described every murder in excruciating detail, Carson had to turn his head away when the crime scene photographs loaded and showed a few of the scenes in vivid detail.

“This is...fuck.” Clancy couldn't complete her statement.

“What does 'the end' mean?” Zane asked, pointing to the words written at the bottom of the screen.

Renne clicked it without saying anything as Henninger's obituary filled the screen.

“On that day, our brother was taken away from us by the doings of a lone FBI agent.” Zane read out loud.

Carson caught the sight of Ty placing his hand on Zane's shoulder and squeezing for comfort and made note as he saw Zane actually relax under the touch. Those two were something else.

“It doesn't name him, does it?” Carson asked, indicating towards Zane.

“No, thankfully.” Renne sighed.

“This is fucking creepy, yeah, but what's so special about it” Ty asked.

“We haven't gotten to the best part yet.” Renne smiled as she scrolled the screen down further and hovered over the words “Join the team”

“This is...a fucking recruitment site?” Ty gasped.

Renne nodded her head and clicked the link. An application filled the screen, it asked for all manner of details. Crimes committed, if you've ever hurt anyone, killed, violated, anyone or anything.

“The best I can tell is that this was dormant until a few months ago when things started to go crazy. I was doing research for an anniversary piece on the killings for the paper when I found it less than a year ago, but when I came across it there was no...sign up sheet. Someone added it recently.” Renne shook her head.

“So there could be more than two of them?” Ty asked.

“Yeah, there's no telling how many psychos know about this thing.” Renne sighed.

“It's nice that this puts a lot of things together in terms of it making sense but it doesn't do anything to help us find them. It's not like we can trace this.” Zane huffed.

“That's where I come in again.” Renne smiled.

“What now?” Carson asked.

“After I saw the link go live I did some research into all the old locations of the murders, nothing stood out until I decided to look into Henninger's old building. Rent skyrocketed after his death and everyone was either evicted or moved out because they couldn't afford it or they didn't want to live in that building. The building went up for sale and sat there for almost seven years until someone purchased it early last year. I did some digging into the property records and couldn't find anything concrete, just that it's now owned by a shell company. I didn't think anything of it, just figured that they were going to demolish it or remodel and reopen, but when the killings started again I decided to drop by and check it out. Every entrance into the building it barred and padlocked except for the parking garage. The old opening to the underground tunnels is completely sealed off and all the elevator cars have been removed from the shafts. All the stair access points are closed off with some variations of chains, locks, or bars. I'm not a gambler but if I had to bet I'd say something is up.” Renne closed the old laptop and walked across the office to put it back in it's locked drawer.

“The key!” Zane gasped.

Carson swung his head around to see Zane pulling Ty into an embrace, repeating the same words over and over again.

“God damn, we never would have figured that out.” Carson smiled, shaking his head?

“Key?” Renne's face twisted into an expression of confusion, “What do you mean?”

“Nothing.” Clancy quickly said, pushing everyone out of the door.

“Thank you for everything.” Zane smiled, “You've been a huge help. I'll let you know if we find anything else.”

The group was silent until they were all in the elevator together.

“So, when do we do this?” Carson asked.

“Rushing in would be a mistake.” Clancy said.

She was right, they rushed into the plant and lost half their team. He wasn't going to let that happen again.

“I'd say we canvass it but we have no idea if they have anyone watching, if we go to just take a look around they could leave by the time we get back.” Clancy said.

“They won't. They want us there. Why else would they leave a key?” Zane questioned.

“How did they even know we'd figure it out?” Clancy sighed.

“It's not that big of a stretch, I think I would have thought of it eventually.” Ty shrugged.

“He's right. They knew we'd go to an old scene so it's not a stretch to think that we could put together Henninger's old apartment, especially once we found out it was abandoned.” Zane agreed.

“So, when do we do this?” Carson echoed his previous question.

“Tomorrow. First light. Try to surprise them by going in early.” Zane nodded.

“I like it.” Ty agreed.

“We don't know if there's more than two of them.” Clancy shook her head. “Or what kind of traps they could have set.”

“McCoy has made it clear he's not willing to risk anyone else on another possible mess like the plant. We're on our own.” Zane huffed.

“I can call Nick and Kelly, they're only a little over an hour away by plane.” Ty offered.

Carson had no idea who these Nick and Kelly people were, he could only assume they were part of the insane team that helped the other three take down the cartel.

“Do you think that would be wise? Especially if there's more bombs like at the plant?” Zane frowned.

“It's risky but we need the numbers and you know they'd come at the drop of a hat.” Ty shrugged.

“Do it then. Make the call.” Zane nodded.

Carson didn't know what they were getting themselves into. Their four man team had just turned into a six man team, inviting in two people he'd never even met without even stopping to consult him. There was nothing he could do now expect hope that these guys were as trustworthy and good as the other three were insisting, he couldn't take losing another person.

 


	22. Chapter 22

 

 

Chapter 22

 

“Nick is busy?” Ty gasped into the phone, “What do you mean?”

“He got a call from Owen and Digger last night asking him for some help down in the bayou.” Kelly said over the speakerphone in an apologetic voice.

“You fuckers knew I was getting into some crazy shit and I might need help, you couldn't leave one or two of you behind just in case?” Ty was waiving his hands all over the place as he paced back and forth in the room, Zane had to bite back a snicker.

“That's why I stayed behind.” Kelly laughed, “We figured out of all of us you and Garrett would be the most likely to do something that needed medical attention. I already had a bag packed and ready to go just waiting for your call. I can be to you in like two hours, give or take.”

“Thanks Doc.” Ty took a deep breath, “We appreciate it. Zane and I can pick you up at the airport.”

“Don't worry about it, I'll take a cab. It'll be safer that way. These guys won't know you're flying anyone else in if they're watching.” Kelly said, “See you in a bit.”

Ty threw the phone back on the bed and fell towards Zane's lap as the line clicked dead.

“One is better than none, I guess.” Zane laughed.

“I suppose.” Ty huffed.

“Are you offended that they didn't talk to you about the plan?” Zane smiled, setting a loving hand on Ty's chest.

“No.” Ty said quickly.

Zane smiled at the obvious lie. The tension in Ty's shoulders, even when he was laying with his head in his lap, was evident.

“Don't lie.” Zane lightly scolded.

“OK. Fine. I'm a little mad.” Ty let out a long breath.

“At least we lucked out with Kelly.” Zane laughed.

“Yeah, Nick would try to patch our bullet holes with super glue.” Ty sighed. “Guess we should go share with the rest of the class.”

They both rose from the bed and walked towards the door, letting themselves into the larger living area of the suite.

“Updates?” Carson asked.

“Kelly is coming, Nick is away with another friend of ours.” Zane shrugged.

“Kelly is the medic, right?” Clancy asked.

“Mhm.” Ty hummed.

“Good. I'm sure we'll need him with the three of you psychos.” Clancy laughed.

“Five is better than four.” Carson conceded, “When does he get here?”

“He's flying in from Boston so the flight it only a little over an hour, it leaves in like half an hour so all together he should be here before five.” Ty nodded.

“Assuming he doesn't get hung up in the TSA line for trying to bring three guns aboard.” Zane laughed.

“So once he gets here we can get something to eat, get him up to speed, and then form a plan for tomorrow. We're going to need to turn in early if we want to be up at first light to put this whole thing into motion.” Clancy said.

 

~*~

 

Kelly stood in the elevator making the long crawl up to the top floor. He'd made it into New York almost exactly at the time predicted. Mercifully, TSA wasn't too hard on him and his three guns seeing that they were all packed in their separate lock boxes and out of his carry on bag. It all seemed a little too easy and convenient that they would let him on with two pistols and a shotgun, even if they were locked away, but he guessed that when you had all the correct papers, a killer story about a hunting retreat outside of the city, and a winning personality like his then the overworked agents could let a thing or two slide.

“Does this thing ever fucking end?” Kelly sighed out loud after passing the four minute mark in the small box.

He closed his eyes for a minute, silently wishing Nick was there. He knew that his job was far more dangerous than what Nick ran off to. On a scale of cult of serial killers to alligator poachers in the bayou Kelly was pretty positive he would win this round. He was also pretty positive that if the time permitted it he would leave his place with Owen and Digger and fly straight to them, no matter how much he cared about the gators an increasingly deadly situation that included both him and Ty would always take precedence. Kelly was secretly glad there wasn't more time for Nick to make a trip, while he wanted him there he also didn't think he could deal with the guilt that would come with it. The beep to indicate that he had finally made it to the top floor stirred him from the thought. He smiled when the door opened to reveal Ty sitting on the floor, his back against the wall, complaining.

“Why the fuck does this thing take so long, Zane?” Ty groaned.

“Don't know, I didn't build it.” Zane shrugged.

“I bet if you did build it then it wouldn't be so slow.” Ty challenged.

“Tyler, if I built an elevator everyone would die.” Zane laughed.

“Don't Tyler, me.” Ty growled.

“Bet you wouldn't mind me Tylering you later tonight when my hands are all over you and you're bent over in front of my rock hard co-” Kelly rushed to cut him off before he could finish the statement.

“Hi! Open door! Elevator! Kelly! Hearing everything you're saying!” Kelly waved his hands furiously.

“Oh.” Zane laughed, a blush beginning to form over his cheeks, “Hey, Kelly.”

“Hunting serial killers make you horny, huh?” Kelly winked.

“Excuse me, if you need me I'll be busy throwing myself over the balcony.” Ty stood up and walked down the hallway towards their door.

“You weren't supposed to hear that.” Zane laughed.

“I sure hope not, a lesser man would take it as an invitation.” Kelly laughed, poking him in his ribs with his elbow.

“Boy I can't wait to feel my body hit the pavement.” Ty sang, holding his hands over his ears.

“At least if we all die tomorrow we got to share this moment together.” Kelly smiled as they walked into the large main room of the hotel suite, “Jesus. This place is huge.”

“That's what happens when you give Grady an unlimited credit card that someone else is paying for.” The red headed woman laughed, Clancy if he remembered correctly.

“Good to see you again.” Kelly smiled.

“You too. This one over here is Carson, don't mind him, he always looks like that.” She pointed to the blonde man sitting on the couch with a scowl on his face.

“He's OK once you get to know him.” Ty shrugged.

Kelly walked over to the man and extended a hand in greeting.

“Nice to meet ya, Kelly Abbott.” He smiled.

“Alex Carson.” The man nodded, standing and shaking his hand. “Thanks for dropping everything to come out here and help.”

“Figured the three of us worked together to help take down the cartel, what is a little cult of serial killers?” Kelly laughed.

“We had more than just five people when that happened though.” Clancy sighed.

“Yeah, but Ty over there counts as like two people, figure Zane and I are probably about one and a half each so that makes another two. So if you look at it that way then there's really nine of us.” Kelly shrugged.

“Sometimes your brain confuses me, Doc.” Ty shook his head.

“Not the first time I've heard that.” Kelly laughed.

“Nick OK with you being here?” Zane asked.

“Not that I need permission but yeah, I know he'd rather be here though.” Kelly sighed.

“Nick?” Carson asked.

“Kelly's lover.” Zane teased.

“Make you uncomfortable?” Kelly teased.

“Not in the slightest.” Carson blushed.

“Carson over there almost had sex with Zane before we met but freaked out and hit him instead.” Ty shrugged.

Kelly bit his lip as he saw Carson's eyes go wide and Zane put his head in his hands.

“Nothing with you two is ever not complicated, huh?” Kelly laughed. “Think of it like this, Six. At least he's not Zane's ex who we all thought was dead, then came back to life, tried to kill us, then shot you, then kidnapped my boyfriend, then saved our lives.”

“You just had to go there, didn't you?” Ty growled.

“Just looking out for my buddy.” Kelly smiled and pointed to Zane.“Oh, we should have tried calling Liam! He could have done this in his sleep!”

“Liam?” Carson asked.

“The aforementioned crazy ex. He and Ty dated for a while until things went south.” Kelly smiled, taking immense pleasure in how uncomfortable he was making Ty.

“I don't even think you guys are real.” Carson sighed, shaking his head and walking away.

“Now that half the people in this room will think twice before saving your ass tomorrow, wanna go get something to eat?” Clancy smiled.

“Please! I'm starving.” “Kelly laughed and gave one last look to Ty and Zane, blowing them a friendly kiss and laughing down the hallway with Clancy.

He accomplished his mission of lighting up the tension in the room, even if only a little bit.

 

~*~

 

“You got a shotgun on the plane?” Carson asked in shock.

Zane laughed as he sat back on the couch. They had just gotten back from dinner and were doing the final count and check of all their weapons and ammo.

“Yep!” Kelly smiled.

“How did you even manage that?” Clancy laughed.

“Had all the right paperwork, flirted with the TSA women for a little bit, it was locked up properly. No one is getting under the plane to get a shotgun. Not that big of a deal.” Kelly shrugged. “I knew we'd need it.”

Zane was glad that they had something a little more powerful than just their hand guns.

“Should have brought the assault rifle.” Ty grinned.

“Thought about it, but didn't want to chance it. Figured a shotgun would be of more use in an apartment building hallway.” Kelly said.

“Good ol' Doc, always planning for maximum bodily harm.” Ty laughed.

“So,” Zane began, “we're looking at ten pistols, one shotgun, eight knives, ten spare clips, two more boxes of pistol ammo, and another box of shotgun shells.”

“Sounds about right. Add in the five bulletproof vests and we've got ourselves a little unit.” Ty nodded.

“How did you end up with five vests?” Kelly asked.

“Ty couldn't figure out which one he wanted to wear so he brought two.” Zane shrugged.

Zane looked back down at the table and time impressive array of weaponry. At first glance it might have seemed like overkill, but after learning what they did from Renne there was a very real possibility there were more people in that building than just the two they were aware of.

“Dead or alive?” Kelly asked.

“Huh?” Ty said, confused.

“We trying to keep these pricks alive for prosecution or are we shooting first and asking questions later?” Kelly clarified.

Zane kept silent, he had his own opinion on the matter but Clancy and Carson were the only ones with real authority here.

“I don't want to say go in there with the intent to kill, but with everything we've seen from these guys it's pretty clear they're not going to go without a fight. This isn't official business, don't risk yourself trying to bring them in if you don't have to.” Carson said with a stone face.

“We could be sent to so many different kind of jails just for saying that.” Clancy sighed.

“Deadly force if needed. Got it.” Kelly nodded.

“Says the one who brought a shotgun before even clarifying.” Zane laughed.

“Always be prepared.” Kelly smiled, standing up from the couch and walking towards his room. “Need to get some sleep. See you all in a few hours.”

Carson and Clancy slowly followed him and soon they were left alone in the living room. Zane looked at Ty out of the corner of his eyes, marveling at the intense concentration on his face as he loaded and unloaded all the guns one last time before letting out a long breath.

“You worried about tomorrow?” Ty asked softly.

Zane frowned, he knew they were both nervous and there was no need to lie about it. “A little.”

Ty smiled and turned his body towards Zane, leaning in close to steal a light kiss.

“I'm more worried about tonight, actually.” Zane admitted.

“Why?” Ty frowned.

“I figure if there's any night I'm ever going to have another terrible nightmare it will be tonight.” Zane sighed and stood from the couch, stretching his long and lean body out as far as it would go.

“Don't think like that, baby.” Ty whispered, standing up alongside him and pulling him into a tight hug.

“I don't want to but...I'm scared to close my eyes. I'm scare that when I do I'll see you die again and then...tomorrow...”Zane couldn't finish his words.

“Please don't say anything like that.” Ty frowned, “I'm going to be with you every second of the night and every second tomorrow. You're not leaving my arms.”

“Promise?” Zane asked, fully aware of how pathetic he sounded.

“Promise.” Ty smiled, pulling him towards the door of their master bedroom.

Zane stripped himself of his clothes, leaving himself clad in only his boxer briefs and laid down on the bed. He smiled when he felt Ty's body on top of him, placing delicate kisses from his belly up to his lips.

“Ty.” Zane whispered.

“Let me take care of you tonight.” Ty smiled, placing another tender kiss on his lips.

Zane let himself go limp, content to let Ty do whatever he wanted with his body. He knew he wouldn't have any bad dreams that night, not after letting himself go to Ty and making tender love like it was the last time they might be able to.

 

  
  


 


	23. Chapter 23

 

 

 

 

Chapter 23

 

Ty woke the next morning before the alarm. He didn't risk moving, wanting Zane to get as much sleep as possible. It turned out that he wouldn't have any nightmares that night, they were both rather exhausted after the slow and passionate sex of the night before. Ty was always surprised that slow and sensual love making often left him feeling even more drained and out of energy than the usual hard and rough approach did.

He let out a soft breath and took in the sight of Zane's sleeping face. He was beautiful but this was always him at his most pure. His guard down, the hard lines and edges on his face giving way for softer and less tense lines. The gray slowing overtaking the rest of his hair, creeping up from his temples and now swirling into the rest of the thick dark hair, along with the new whiskers that popped up every day.

The beeping from the alarm immediately woke Zane and Ty had to suppress a laugh at how startled he looked when it woke him. He watched as Zane's eyes ran through the scenery around him and finally settled on his face.

“Hi.” Ty smiled.

“Anyone ever tell you it's creepy when you do that?” Zane rasped.

“Once or twice.” Ty whispered, pushing his face towards Zane and nuzzling their noses together.

“When are we rolling out?” Zane scratched his face.

“Under 45 minutes, Autobot.” Ty laughed.

“Time for a shower then. Wanna join?” Zane smiled.

“Always. No time for sexy stuff though.” Ty shrugged.

“Don't want it. Just want to be close to you.” Zane yawned and stretched his arms above his head.

Ty smiled as he followed Zane's bare body to the shower taking his hand as they shared the small space together. They both let out a soft groan as the hot water hit their muscles, he knew that they were both sore from last night. They continued in silence, executing the silent routine they had done millions of times by now. Zane turning around first as Ty lathered up his body, running his hands over his hairy chest and lean muscles, covering them in soap and then helping him scrub it off. They switched positions as Zane returned the favor, making the same exact movements Ty had made a few moments earlier. After giving enough attention to their bodies Ty lathered his hands in shampoo, reaching up to Zane's hair and running his fingers through it, furiously scrubbing and laughing as his fingers got tangled in the thick dark curls. Ty turned on reflex as Zane began to run his soapy fingers through his hair. He hummed at the touch. He knew he sometimes took intimate moments like this for granted but if they made it through today he never would again. They rinsed their hair and stood in each others embrace for a few more minutes, letting the water run over them until it turned cold. They shared one last, long look and a languid kiss before stepping out of the shower.

Ty threw Zane a towel and watched as he dried himself off before doing the same.

“What're you wearing?” Zane asked.

“Black cargo pants, black long sleeve pullover, my combat boots you love to steal.” Ty winked, “You?”

“About the same, including the boots you got me for Christmas.” Zane smiled.

“What pocket are you keeping your spare clips in?” Ty raised his eyebrow.

“Lower thigh, I think. Opposite side of my thigh holster. Do you approve, captain?” Zane laughed.

“I guess so.” Ty shrugged.

He walked over to the closet and set out his clothes on the bed, turning back and getting out Zane's things next. He let the towel drop when he was satisfied with his dryness and pulled on his boxers, then pants, and shirt.

“What're we doing with the vests?” Zane asked from the bathroom. “And the shotgun for that matter.”

“We're loading everything up in two duffles. Guns and ammo in one, vests in the other. That way we don't cause a scene in the lobby.” Ty laughed.

“We taking two cabs a few blocks out of the building still?” Zane asked.

“Unless they changed the plan overnight, yeah.” Ty nodded and took in the sight of a naked Zane in front of him, hair wild from the towel. He sat back on the bed and watched as Zane pulled on his pants and then secured the sheaths for his knives to his arms before pulling a long sleeved shirt over his head.

Ty pulled on his boots as Zane took a seat next to him and did the same, lacing them up at the same time before standing almost in unison.

“Ready to go?” Zane smiled.

Ty took one last look around the room to make sure he wasn't forgetting anything. He nodded and stepped towards the door with Zane before stopping and turning around and grab the watch Zane got in for Christmas and sliding it on his wrist.

When they stepped into the living room they saw a team that was ready for war. Clancy was wearing a similarly dark and sleek outfit to them, her red hair slicked back and tied into a tight bun at the back of her head. Carson was in a pair of tight dark jeans, trying on the various thigh holsters they had to decide which he liked the most, his jacket sat to the side of him and Ty assumed he'd be using it to cover the body harness with his gun, a knife, and an extra clip. Kelly was wearing his signature desert camo cargo pants, pockets filled and weighted down with who knows what, his medical pack strapped around his waist and angled under his lower back.

“We're about to head out Nicko, love you.” Kelly smiled into the phone. “Yeah, he just walked in, I'll tell him.”

Ty raised his eyebrow and smiled.

“Nick said if I die he's going to kill you.” Kelly laughed.

“Noted.” Ty nodded as Kelly hung up the phone.

“I'm proud to say we all look very inconspicuous.” Zane said, a sarcastic air filling his voice.

“Think it's best Clancy and I walk with our badges clearly visible so we don't get the cops called on us before we even start shooting at things.” Carson nodded.

“Wanna go over the plan one last time?” Kelly asked.

“Sure.” Ty nodded, “if I remember correctly it's a roughly 15 story building, it'll take some time to clear each floor but I think it's best we don't split up, not after last time. Henninger's apartment was on the top floor so I say we start there and work our way down. We move slowly and methodically, I'll take the lead and the rest of you follow me exactly. If something happens to me Kelly is the best trained to get everyone out.”

“Don't say stuff like that.” Zane frowned, looking at the ground.

“It's just a formality.” Kelly smiled, placing his hand on Zane's leg and giving it a squeeze.

Ty let out a breath as he saw Zane relax. He knew that Zane trusted Kelly the most out of Sidewinder and thank god he was here to keep him calm and would do all he could to protect him in case the worst happened. He gave Kelly a look, silently telling him to hang back when they dispersed.

“Anything else?” Clancy asked.

“There's a high probability that we're walking into a booby trapped death house after the plant, everyone keep and eye out and if Kelly or I say run or duck or dive and what the fuck ever, do it.” Ty said firmly.

The rest of the room nodded and he waved them off, Carson, Clancy, and Zane made for the bags loaded with their supplies while Ty waited until they were out of earshot.

“Doc, make me a promise?” Ty said quietly.

“What is it?” Kelly raised his eyebrow.

“If things go south in there and you have a choice between me and Zane you save him.” Ty demanded.

“Ty, you can't say something like that. I couldn't make that choice, you know it.” Kelly sighed.

“I know you'd chose me ultimately, which is why I'm telling you. If it comes down to it you save him over me. That's an order, marine.” Ty said with a cold face.

“Ty...”Kelly trailed off.

“Kelly, I said that's a fucking order. Got it?” TY was motionless.

“Yes sir.” Kelly relented, walking away with his head hung to the floor.

 

~*~

 

The cab dropped them off a block from Henninger's old apartment. The sun had yet to rise and the streets weren't as busy as they usually were for some reason. All the better, it gave them even more freedom in their movement. Zane turned his head to face behind him and saw the rest of the group falling into a line.

“Where are we going to suit up?” Kelly asked.

“There's an alley right before the parking garage if I remember correctly. We'll stop there and gear up before we go in.” Ty indicated to the alley that was a few hundred yards from them.

When they finally reached it they made a quick scan for activity and registered nothing of concern. They shrugged the bags of their shoulders and went to working gearing up. They pulled on their vests first, taking turns checking each other to make sure they were secured in properly. Ty and Zane slid on their holsters at the belt, then their thighs, checking the guns to make sure they were loaded and ready to go. Zane deposited the two extra clips in his side pocket and checked the reflexives of his knives. Everything seemed in order. He looked over the rest of the group as they were finishing up with their various straps and belts. Clancy carried a collapsible baton in her hand, flicking it open and closed to test it's responsiveness and swinging it a few times for some last minute practice.

Zane let out a chuckle at the sight of Kelly standing next to him with the shotgun draped over his forearm. He gave it a cock before slinging it over his back and checking the rest of his gear.

“It's almost light, lets move out.” Ty ordered, indicating to the narrow opening in front of them. Zane put a hand on his shoulder to stop him and pulled him into one last passionate kiss.

“Just for good luck.” Zane winked.

“Where's mine?” Kelly laughed.

Zane sighed and turned to Kelly, grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him in for a kiss on the cheek.

“Happy?” Zane laughed.

“Elated. Don't tell Nick.” Kelly winked.

“You guys are so weird.” Carson laughed.

The opening to the old parking garage was unobstructed, all that was stopping them was the void of darkness. Zane put his hand on Ty's shoulder and squeezed, he knew this had to be difficult for him.

“Flashlights up.” Kelly commanded, turning the light on his vest on.

The rest of the group followed suit and clicked theirs on, illuminating a small swath in front of them. The moved slowly through the darkness, meticulously checking every dark corner for a person or a trap. Their search was coming up empty when they reached the stair access.

“Renne said they took all the elevator cars out so this is the only way up.” Ty said, pulling on the old door. “Locked.”

“Try the key.” Zane said quietly.

Ty produced the key out of his pocket and slid it in the lock, turning it and smiling when it clicked open.

“You'd think this was a trap or something.” Kelly whispered.

“Shhh!” The four of them whispered in unison.

“Ready to move up? Take it slow, we're going for the top.” Ty whispered.

They stepped into the stairwell which was a sea of darkness. Zane couldn't see more than a foot or two either way his flashlight was turned. They continued their ascent up the stairs, passing each number to the floor as they went up. They were stopped in their tracks when they got to floor 13. A large barricade of stone and metal blocked their way any further up.

“That's comforting.” Clancy whispered.

“What do we do now, Six?” Kelly asked.

“There's another stairwell on the other end of this floor, we try that way. If that's blocked we may have to try climbing the elevator shaft.” Ty shrugged.

“I really fucking hope that way is open then.” Carson shuddered.

Ty pushed the door to the thirteenth floor open with his foot, Zane was right behind him at they stepped into the long hallway.

“Watch the doors.” Kelly said quietly, “Check them as you go, if any of them are unlocked say something and we check it.”

“Try to get them before they get us, smart.” Zane nodded.

They continued down the hallway, checking every door and breathing a sigh of relief when they were locked. They were halfway down the hallway when Ty come to a sudden stop, placing a hand on Zane's stomach to stop him.

“Did you hear that?” Ty whispered.

“What?” Zane said.

“Shh.” Ty commanded, “Listen.”

Zane grew quiet and he finally heard what Ty was talking about, a hollow thump that sounded like it was coming below them and getting closer.

“What is that?” Clancy asked.

“Fuck.” Kelly said quickly, “Demolition charges.”

The warning came a second too late as they felt the floor beneath them shake, warning of a collapse. The small explosion beneath their feet sent them rocking and Zane only had a second to shove Ty forward out of the dangerous area and grab Kelly from behind him to pull him over with them. Zane looked back from safety with Ty and Kelly just in time to see the entire section of floor that Carson and Clancy were on give way and start to crumble, sending them falling into a deep black pit.

 

~*~

 

Carson's head was ringing and his only slightly healed arm was throbbing from the impact of the fall. He looked around the darkness and couldn't get his bearings. He finally found his flashlight that was mercifully still working and clicked it on, it illuminated the rubble around him and the sight of Clancy laying next to him with a large cut on her head.

“Clancy, are you with me?” Carson rasped, trying to get her conscious. “Michelle, dammit, wake up!”

“Alex, stop fucking yelling, my head is on fire.” Clancy moaned.

“Carson, Clancy?” A voice yelled from above them, “Please tell me you're alive.”

“Zane?” Carson called back.

“Yeah! It's me, the three of us are good up here, are you guys OK?” Zane yelled down.

“Think I'm good. Clancy has a head wound but nothing too serious, I don't think.” Carson said.

“How far did you fall?” The next voice that came was Ty.

Carson waved his flashlight around trying to find some marker. The apartment in front of him was labeled 1108.

“Think I'm on the eleventh floor.” He yelled up.

He dusted himself off, checking for any broken bones and letting out a breath when he;d decided he was fine. He helped Clancy up who was finally coming around and looked her over before giving her a clean bill of health.

“We're coming down to get you.” Kelly said.

“No! Don't waste time. They know we're here now. We'll meet you on the top floor, we'll only be a minute or two behind.” Carson yelled out.

“Are you sure?” Zane asked.

“Positive.” He nodded and watched as their lights disappeared.

“Lets get going, I need to walk this concussion off.” Clancy laughed, holding her head.

Carson reached down for his gun and saw it missing. Fuck, he must have lost it in the fall.

“Can't find my gun.” Carson rasped.

“Fuck, me either. We must have lost them in the fall. You still have your backup?” Clancy asked.

Carson checked his thigh holster and was relieved to find it, he pulled it out and held it in front of him.

“Fuck. My thigh holster is gone.” Clancy yelled.

“What?” Carson gasped.

“It must have gotten caught on the way down.” Clancy said, waving her flashlight around and settling on the holster hanging from an exposed metal rod a floor above her head. “Found it.”

“I don't see either of ours on the floor. Stay behind me. We don't have time.” Carson shook his head.

A clanging from the end of the hall caught their attention. Carson could hear footsteps crunching over rubble and broken glass.

“What the fuck is that?” Clancy whispered.

“We're not alone in here.” Carson said, quietly pulling out his gun and turning the light off. “Stay right behind me.”

They moved slowly through the darkness, trying to make it to the other end of the hallway and to the stairwell. Their movements stopped when a sharp whistle came from behind them.

Carson turned quickly, clicking the light on and illuminating the dark figure clad in a leather jacket and dark motorcycle helmet in front of them, brandishing a long and sharp blade. Carson raised his gun in one swift motion and pulled the trigger. The gun jammed, refusing the fire, and the attacker lunged towards them.

Carson cursed and threw the gun at the attacker, it bounced off of the helmet, cracking the visor and revealing the assailants eyes. Carson ducked at the first awing of the knife, narrowly missing the blade as it slashed overhead of him. He grabbed the first stone he could pick up and swung it in an upward arc, hitting the bottom of the helmet and sending the man staggering backwards.

Carson watched as Clancy pulled the collapsible baton out of her back pocket, extending it in one quick flick, and brought it in a sweeping arc against the attackers side. He cried out in pain as it made contact and she adjusted, pulling it back and swinging it overhead and laughing when it made contact with the attackers shoulder. The next move caught her off guard though, as the man fell backwards he rolled into a modified crouch, swinging his leg under Clancy and knocking her off balance.

Carson lunged for the attacker before he could make his next move on her, catching him in his center of gravity and knocking him to the floor. He was straddled on top of the man now and grabbed desperately at the helmet to remove it, when he finally tore it off he froze in horror when he realized the face below him. The attackers face twisted into an evil smile as he was revealed.

“Grant?” Carson whispered in disbelief, “You're dead.”

Grant didn't respond to him. Instead he swung his fist that had picked up a discarded rock and made contact with the side of Carson's head.

Carson fell to the side, his vision beginning to blur, the last thing he saw before losing it all together was the sight of the once dead and now very much alive Special Agent Jackson Grant standing above Clancy with the knife in his hand and her screams echoing through his mind as he lost consciousness.

 

~*~

 

Zane rushed up the stairs, taking them two at a time, trying to get to the top floor. Their element of surprise was gone and they had to move quickly now. He hoped that Carson and Clancy would meet them there, he didn't want to go against these guys when they were down two people.

They pushed their way into the fifteenth floor hallway and stopped when they found it illuminated by electrical lights strung up on the walls. The door at the end of the hallway was open and a faint blue light spilled out of it.

“Think we're in the right place.” Ty nodded.

“Let's go.” Zane whispered, holding his gun at the ready.

They slowly made it down the hallway and paused before entering the last room. At they stopped outside the door it slammed shut in their face and they heard the sound of a hollow can bouncing down the hallway. Zane turned on his heels and saw two black figured throwing canisters at them, a few seconds after impact they began to spit out a thick white gas.

“Fuck. Cover your mouth and nose.” Kelly yelled.

But it was too late, his words had already begun to slur and Zane watched as Kelly first dropped to the floor, being the closest to the canisters, then Ty followed closely after him.

Zane fired off two rounds, cursing at the sound of them hitting nothing but the walls, as he pushed his way through the smoke covered hallway, his forearm trying desperately to cover his mouth and nose. He staggered a few more steps before falling to his knees and looking up at the two men. His eyes went wide when he realized who was standing in front of him.

“Dr. Asher? Damien?” Zane struggled through the words before he collapsed on the ground, succumbing to the knock out gas.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in which i try to pull off my plot twist in the first ever mystery i've ever written!


	24. Chapter 24

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 24

 

Ty's eyes blinked to life as he slowly regained consciousness. He looked around the room from his spot on the floor trying to get a glimpse of anyone around him. Zane, Kelly, their attackers. Anyone. He tried to get up and found himself restrained, cuffs around his wrists and his feet tied together with a thick rope. He closed his eyes and began to breathe in and out slowly, trying his best not to have a panic attack or flashback at being restrained.

“Zane?” Ty rasped into the room. No answer.

“Kelly? Someone?” Ty tried again.

He heard a soft moan from another corner of the room and tried to roll his body to a different angle to see it. He rocked a few times and was finally able to get enough momentum for his body to flip over and he was soon facing Kelly.

“Fuck. Doc? Wake up? You with me?” Ty yelled.

“Stop yelling. Headache.” Kelly moaned.

“Don't care. Wake the fuck up. We're in trouble.” Ty pleaded.

He tried wriggling himself across the floor, desperately trying to close the gap between him and Kelly.

“I can't make it to you, Doc. You have to help me out.” Ty yelled again.

“Fuck. OK. OK. I'm up. Just no more yelling.” Kelly sighed, turning his head to face Ty.

“We need to find a way out of these things.” Ty said, his breath growing more and more labored the longer he spent restrained.

“Breathe, Ty.” Kelly said softly, “I know this isn't your favorite position but you can't let yourself freak out.”

Duh. They were fucking tied up and locked in a dark room. He knew that he couldn't freak out if they had any hope of getting out of there.

“Need to get these off my legs, the laces on my boots are modified handcuff keys. Can't reach them with the rope.” Ty said as calmly as possible.

“They didn't get my knife, it's in the back of my waistband, I can feel it.” Kelly said.

“Can you reach it?” Ty gasped.

“No. My hands cant angle that way with the cuffs. You're going to have to get yourself over here and get it.” Kelly sighed.

Ty began to bow and flex his body on the ground again, desperately trying to get some leverage. He was moving, slowly, but surely.

“This will go a lot faster if you try and get yourself to me too.” Ty panted.

He could tell from the motion in the darkness Kelly was doing his best to mimic his moves and bring himself closer to Ty. After a few long minutes of struggling in the dark their bodies finally collided with a soft thump.

“Thought you'd never get here.” Kelly laughed.

“Shut up and roll over. Where's the knife?” Ty grunted.

“Back waistband.” Kelly said, flopping his body to the other side and pulling up his shirt as far as he could.

Ty's hands began to search, making contact with Kelly's skin and causing him to shiver. He finally found the cold metal and pulled it out of the back of his pants.

“I don't know if I can reach. You're going to have to do it.” Ty huffed, reaching out to put the knife in Kelly's hands before turning his body around and leaving his feet close to Kelly's blade.

“You cut off a toe and I'm killing you.” Ty warned.

Kelly laughed in response and began sawing at the thick rope that bound Ty's feat. After long minutes the rope finally gave way and fell to the ground. Ty breathed a sigh of relief and kicked off one of his boots, turning his body again to grab the end of the laces and work it into the hold on the cuffs. They popped open with a satisfying thunk and he took a moment to stretch himself and feel his free limbs.

“Don't forget about me.” Kelly groaned.

Ty responded with a laugh, reaching down for the knife and freeing Kelly from his restraints.

“What the fuck happened?” Ty groaned. “Where the fuck is Zane?”

“Some kind of knock out gas. Took us all down quick.” Kelly rubbed his head.

Ty didn't care what the fuck happened, he just needed to find Zane. He stood to stretch himself out and froze when he heard the sound of a door opening coming from the front of the apartment they were in.

“Fuck. Get back down. Act like you're out.” Ty whispered, picking up the knife and hiding it in his arms.

They were silent as the footsteps fell into the room they were in. They stopped right in front of him and hesitated a moment before bending over and rolling him on his back. Ty's eyes sprung open and he made his move, producing the knife in his hands and swinging it for the closest kill spot. He was too slow, partly because of the realization that the man who was standing over him was the husband of Zane's therapist, Damien.

Ty was only able to make contact with a glancing blow, nicking the mans face as he recoiled in pain. Ty tried to come around for a second strike but the man was too fast, he delivered one swift kick to Ty's stomach and knocked all the wind out of him and sent the knife skidding off to the other side of the room.

“Anytime...now.” Ty gasped in between breaths, waiting for Kelly to help.

Kelly took the cue and pounced from the other side of the room, landing on top of Damien and following up with a one-two punch combo to the face. Damien screamed in pain before levering his weight and trowing Kelly off of him.

Ty took the opportunity to dive at Damien shoulder first, knocking him into a weak and crumbling wall and sending him flying through it and into the living room of the rotting apartment. Ty stepped through the hole and delivered a kick to Damien's chest, he went for another but the man caught his foot and yanked it out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground.

Damien stood over him, foot raised and ready to deliver a stomp to his face. Ty rolled to the side at the last moment, grabbing Damien's leg and pressing the watch on his wrist to the exposed skin. Ty struggled to hit the small button on the side of the watch, fighting against the wild movements of the other man. After a moment he was able to leverage himself enough to reach it, pressing and wincing as he felt a small shock move through him and into his attacker. It wasn't a powerful jolt, the watch was mostly meant as a gag gift from Zane and not meant to do actual damage, but it was enough to startle and daze the man for a few seconds just from the sheer unexpectedness.

Kelly, sensing the opportunity, picked up and old lamp off of one of the side tables and swung the weapon over his head like a mace and made direct contact to Damien's head, blood gushed from the opened would and sent him flying across the room into a window, breaking it open.

Ty scrambled to his feat and grabbed Damien by the back of the head, pulling him over to the broken window.

“Where's Zane?” Ty demanded, holding Damien's head over the jagged shards of glass.

“Upstairs with my brother, but he wont be for long.” Damien snarled.

Ty wasn't going to get anymore information out of him and he knew it. Instead of knocking him out and cuffing him Ty opted instead to slam Damien's throat into the shards of glass, cutting into the soft skin and spilling buckets of blood as he gasped for his final breaths. He was dead in less than a minute.

Ty looked back at Kelly who was taking in Ty's new blood covered form and silently nodded.

“C'mon, we have to get up stairs.” Ty said quietly, walking past Kelly and picking up the knife in the corner of the other room.

 

~*~

 

Carson came to with a splitting headache. He reached up to feel the side of his head and could already feel the lump forming between the sticky blood. What the fuck happened? He tried to remember but everything was hazy. It wasn't until he saw the face in front of him that it all clicked back together.

“You son of a bitch.” Carson growled.

“Good to see you too, boss.” Grant grinned.

“You're supposed to be fucking dead.” Carson spat.

“The rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.” Grant laughed.

“They won't be when I fucking kill you.” Carson narrowed his eyes in the dark room, focusing on his former friend. “Where the fuck is Clancy?”

“Sorry, poor Michelle is dead back there in the hallway.” Grant shrugged, I'm sorry, I know this is all a shock. We were so close, you and I. I could always tell you wanted more.” Grant teased.

Carson closed his eyes. He refused to believe that Clancy was dead, she was too fucking strong for this asshole. He also couldn't deny it, he'd harbored a crush on Grant for years now and his death effected him in more ways than he could imagine. But now? Now all he wanted to do was kill him. Slowly.

“How?” Was all Carson asked.

“My death in the hallway was a cover up to get me out of the FBI, the entire thing was. We planted the dirt at every crime scene knowing that it would eventually lead you all to the plant and if I needed out we would use it and if I wanted to stay in then the place would have been empty.” Grant shrugged. “I felt like things were getting too hot when you brought in Serena. It's why I had to kill her and then get myself out. Any more looking into he files and she would have eventually realized that Henninger and I trained together in the academy.”

“You killed Serena?” Carson gasped.

“Yep. Contrary to your belief, Serena is dead because of you. Not because of Ty and Zane. I had her meet me, I told her I had some info that I couldn't share with the team and she came running to try and one up all of you. She never saw me coming, one second she was in front of me, the next the needle was in her neck. I decided on mercy because she wasn't a part of the original plan and let her sleep painlessly while I bled her out.” Grant let a wicked smile cross his face.

“The hallway was a set up then?” Carson asked.

“Yep. The good doctor only pretended to cut my throat, Zane was in such a panic he didn't even realize. Put a replacement body in there and lit it on fire enough to get rid of all traces of any identifying features knowing that everyone would just assume it was me after Garrett's story.” Grant laughed.

“Why?” Carson rasped, trying to fight back tears.

“Tim and I became fast friends in the academy, we bonded over our fucked up lives and our shared interests in making people feel the pain we felt. When I found out he was the tri-state killer it sent my whole world into a spiral. I was so fucking angry that he didn't want my help with it. I eventually found that site on the deep web and learned all the intimate details. I'd check it daily. And then one day the sign up sheet appeared and I figured it had to be a sign from God. Why the fuck else would something appear on the website of someone who was long dead? I signed up because why the fuck not? And they contacted me and the rest is history.” Grant said, getting down to Carson's level on the floor.

“You're not the one who set up the link on the site?” Carson asked in surprise.

“God no. That one was a surprise I did not expect at all.” Grant laughed.

“Who the fuck was it then?” Carson spat.

“Don't worry your pretty little head.” Grant cooed, “Come here and give me a kiss, Alex. I know you've always wanted it.”

Carson jerked his head away but Grant caught it and pulled it back to face him. Holding his face in place Grant leaned down and pressed their lips together, fighting to slide his tongue in Carson's mouth. When it finally broke through Carson bit down as hard as he could, spitting out the blood from the attack when Grant broke away.

“You son of a bitch!” Grant screamed, backhanding him.

“I can't fucking wait to watch you die.” Carson spat.

“You think you can kill me?” Grant laughed, waving his arms around like a mad man, “Do you know what I've done? How many people I've killed? People before this even, you don't know the fucking half of it.”

Carson shook his head, Grant probably had killed before he joined this fucked up game.

“You're nothing but a two bit copycat who couldn't think of an original idea so you had to copy another psychopath.” Carson glowered.

“And you're nothing but a weak, pathetic, excuse for a man who can't even find anyone to lov-” Grant was cut off by the sound of a gunshot coming from behind him. Carson recoiled as he felt the blood spray hit him and watched as Grant fell to the floor, a hole in his head leaking dark amber fluid. He looked up to where Grant had been standing and found Clancy still holding the gun at the ready and leaning against the door frame.

“That guy talks to fucking much.” Clancy let out a small laugh and held up her gun, “Found the other one.”

“You're alive!” Carson yelled, full of happiness.

“Mhm.” Clancy hummed, staggering over to him and undoing his restraints.

“How?” Carson wondered.

“He stabbed me in an old bullet wound, where Zane shot me actually. The scar tissue stopped the blade from going any deeper than it did. Guy's ego got the better of him when I played dead.” Clancy laughed, “Speaking of dead, I thought he was.”

“Long story, apparently.” Carson shook his head.

“I've already heard gunshots upstairs, we need to get up there. Can you move?” Clancy asked.

“Yeah, I think so. There's at least three more of them, I think. “ Carson sighed.

“Three?” Clancy questioned.

“The two from the plant and then the one who got into that site. He said it wasn't him. Someone recruited all of them.” Carson shook his head, “We need to get up stairs.”

 

~*~

 

Cold liquid pouring all over him woke Zane up with a gasp. He shook his head as the fluid continued to fall, spitting and fighting it. He froze when it hit his mouth, someone was pouring scotch all over him. He held his mouth shut as tight as he could, not willing to risk another drop slipping into his mouth.

“What the matter, Zane? Not thirsty?” Asher grinned, standing over him and pouring more down on top of him.

Zane wanted to fight, to scream, but he couldn't taste the liquid. He wouldn't let them win like that.

Asher finally relented and sat the bottle down next to his head, a teasing invitation.

“We can talk now, free of charge.” Asher smiled.

“You son of a bitch.” Zane growled.

How the fuck had this happened? How did his therapist become the killer they were hunting?

“Now that's no way to talk to a friend.” Asher laughed, pulling a blade out of his back pocket and twirling it around in his hands.

“How?” Zane asked.

“How did I end up as your therapist and as a serial killer? It's simple really. I used to be an FBI doctor, years ago, under a different name. Tim was one of my old patients, I could always sense a darkness in him. He confessed to me what he'd done during one session, about the night he killed the old Poe toaster. Instead of turning him in...I nurtured it. I helped him grow his rage and channel it into something more productive. It was quite fun, actually. He was a very good student.”Asher smiled.

“You're fucking disgusting.” Zane spat.

“As for how you ended up with me...” Asher continued, ignoring his previous words, “When I found out it was you and our benefactor came to me with this plan I knew I had to figure out a way to get in with you, to try and break you down from the inside out. You made it easy for us, all your googling about gay friendly therapists. It was laughable, actually. One or two quick hacks by my friend and I was at the top of every list in the Baltimore area. You called me the very next day.”

Zane could feel his chest tightening. How could he never have noticed it? It all made sense looking back. The questions he asked, the way he subtly tried to undermine his and Ty's relationship. At the time it just seemed like regular shrink double talk, but now? Now it was even more sinister.

“How'd you enjoy the dreams, by the way?” Asher laughed.

“What?” Zane gasped.

“The nightmares, you have me to thank for them. Your water every visit? It was laced with four times the normal dosage of antibiotics that are known to cause terrible nightmares with just one pill. You were, in essence, taking eight or more every time you downed that cup of water I kept pushing on you.” Asher winked.

Zane wanted to throw up. It was all too fucking much. The alcohol that was stinging his nerves, the overwhelming information that was being pumped into his brain. He was about to shut down, he could feel it.

“So you and your husband just happen to be crazy serial killers together?” Zane laughed.

“Damien?” Asher laughed, “He's not my husband. He's my brother. It was all part of the act to make you comfortable. We were adopted at a young age, been inseparable ever since. He was a lot of help when we were hoisting up those eight bodies and burning them alive.”

“I'm going to fucking kill you.” Zane growled.

“Big words for a broken man.” Asher sighed, grabbing the bottle of scotch and forcing Zane's mouth open before pouring it down his throat.

Zane fought and fought, choking on the amber liquid. He'd rather drown in it then swallow at this point but Asher was too strong and soon he was swallowing gulp after gulp of the fire in the bottle. He could already feel himself growing lightheaded as the familiar sensation buzzed through him. Four years of hard work gone in a blink of the eye.

“Tastes good, huh?” Asher winked.

“Gonna kill you.” Zane rasped again, his eyes losing focus.

Zane closed his eyes and sent out a silent prayer. Ty had to come save him, he wasn't getting out of this alone. He couldn't fight it, not the alcohol and the man who was overpowering him. He knew Ty was alive and in the building somewhere. All he had to do was wait.

“Can't kill me before our guest of honor arrives.” Asher smiled.

Zane heard the front door of the apartment click open and the sound of heels clacking against the wooden floor.

“Do you know where you're laying, Zane?” The light, female voice called out.

Zane didn't respond.

“You're laying in the same exact spot Tim Henninger died. Where you killed him.” The woman said.

Zane could faintly make out something familiar in her voice but he couldn't place her through the haze of the alcohol.

The clicking of the heels continued before coming to a stop right in front of him. Zane trailed his eyes up and couldn't speak when he recognized the face of the woman. It was Renne Nigh. She was holding a clear syringe in one hand and a small, thin blade in the other. She knelt down next to him and turned the blade in her hand before slamming it into his shoulder. Zane cried out in pain as she leaned down to whisper in his ear.

“That was for killing my brother.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in which the bad guys all monologue and another twist is revealed!


	25. Chapter 25

 

 

 

Chapter 25

 

“The fucking stairs are all blocked off!” Ty spat.

He was slowly losing his mind, they were trapped on the eighth floor while Zane was god knows where and they had no way of getting to him.

“Elevator doors are welded shut, there's no way we're climbing up them.” Kelly shook his head.

“We've got to get to him, Kelly.” Ty said, frantically trying to figure out a solution.

“I know, Ty. We'll figure it out.” Kelly promised, placing a calming hand on his shoulder.

“I'll crawl up the fucking side of this building if I have to.” Ty slammed his fist into a nearby wall.

“That's it!” Kelly shouted, “You're a genius!”

“What?” Ty raised his eyebrow.

“The outside! The fire escape!” Kelly laughed, grabbing Ty by the arm and pulling him inside the nearest apartment and busting out a window.

Ty hung his head out the window and immediately deflated, the entire section of the fire escape was missing from this floor and didn't start until the one above them.

“Fuck.” Kelly grumbled.

“I can make it on the ledge to the ladder hanging over there.” Ty said, throwing one foot out of the window and balancing it.

“Ty!” Kelly grabbed his arm, “Don't be crazy, you're no good to Zane if you're a pancake on the sidewalk.”

“Doc. Let me go. Right now. This is the only way.” Ty warned.

Kelly released his grip and let Ty continue his insane stunt.

Ty threw his other leg over and balanced both of his feet on the precariously slim ledge. He could feel the wind hitting him from this high up and he pressed his body to the wall as flat as he could as he began to shimmy the roughly 40 feet to the ladder. He looked back when he heard movement behind him and saw Kelly steeping out onto the ledge too.

“You don't have to follow me.” Ty yelled back at him.

“Of course I do. Too many people would kill me if I let you do this by yourself. Get moving.” Kelly laughed.

Ty refocused himself and moved cautiously along the edge, keeping his head up as high as he could and refusing to look down. He made it almost the entire way when the bricks beneath his feet started to give out. He could feel them crumbling underneath his feet. He had to make a split second decision. With one forceful push he threw himself off the the ledge and flew through the air towards the ladder, narrowly making it and catching it with one hand . He held on for dear life as the ladder shook and expanded downwards as it was supposed to. He used all his strength to pull himself upwards and grasp a rung with the other hand. Once he was safely on the metal bars he looked back at Kelly who was about to puke.

“You're gonna have to make the jump. Go back now if you don't think you can make it.” Ty warned as he climbed to the top of the ladder and found solid footing on the fire escape above.

“I...can make it.” Kelly nodded, taking a second to steady himself before he mimicked Ty's movements.

Ty watched as Kelly sailed through the air, almost in slow motion, grasping the ladder with both hands and one foot in one easy motion. He steadied himself while the apparatus shook and then made the climb up to join Ty.

“That was fucking wild.” Kelly laughed.

“Don't tell Nick, he'll kill me.” Ty shook his head as they began to climb their way up the old, rusting fire escape.

 

~*~

 

“Your brother?” Zane rasped, looking up at Renne with wide eyes.

“Surely you can't be that slow.” Renne laughed. “Tim Henninger was my brother. And you killed him.”

Zane's eyes widened even further, he;d been over Henninger's background hundreds of times at this point and there was never any mention of family, especially not a sister. They weren't even the same race.

“I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and say it's the alcohol dulling that brain of yours. He was my foster brother.” She smiled, “We were together for years and we remained inseparable even after he left. Renne Nigh isn't even my real name.”

“What?” Zane coughed.

“Oh sweetie, I can't believe you didn't even realize it when we first met.” Renne laughed, pulling out her ID with her name written on it, “I was afraid it would be too obvious, too theatrical, but you didn't even blink an eye at it.”

Zane studied the card, reading over her name time and time again until it clicked. He closed his eyes and saw all the letters scramble and reform.

“Renne Nigh is a anagram for Henninger.” Zane laughed, shaking his head. How the fuck didn't he catch that?

“Took you long enough.” Renne, or whatever her name was, smiled. “I've been going by it for years, created myself an entire identity around it. Got the job at the Global as a cover while I planned this whole thing.”

“You were the one who set up the link on the Henninger site, and you hacked the power grid.” Zane shook his head.

“Now we're cooking with gas.” Renne laughed.

“All of this, all those people dead just because I killed your brother who was a psychopath?” Zane laughed.

“You shut the fuck up about him, you don't know the half of what we went through.” Renne spat.

“I know enough to know that having a shitty childhood isn't an excuse to turn into a serial killer.” Zane rolled his eyes.

Renne sent a heeled foot into his side, knocking the breath out of him.

“My brother watched his entire family get murdered in front of him. And then he killed my father to stop him from sneaking into my room in the middle of the night. You'd never live to be half the man he was.” Renne snapped.

“Hit a nerve, huh?” Zane laughed through the pain.

“Asher,” Renne called to him, “bring me my bag.”

Asher nodded and carried over her purse. She reached into it and pulled out one long syringe filled with a clear liquid.

“I assume you know what this is. I could kill you right here, let you die in the same spot he did. But I have something even better in mind. Something that Tim would be so very proud of.” Renne smiled.

Zane watched as she dropped to her knees and winced at the pain from the needle breaking his skin. She pushed the plunger down and it was only a few short seconds until Zane felt his entire world zone out. He was still fully awake and could feel every sensation on his body, as if they were even more heightened, but he couldn't move. He couldn't talk, and he couldn't scream. He was trapped in his own personal tomb.

“Help me carry him downstairs to the elevator shaft.” Renne said to Asher, giving Zane one last look before turning away.

Zane couldn't tell how long had passed. Time seemed to have no meaning in this state. He tried desperately to do anything, to move any part of his body but it was all futile.

“Welcome to our masterpiece.” Renne whispered to him.

He listened to the sounds as a large door was pulled open, possibly an elevator door based on the context clues.

He was right. When they flipped him around he could see the elevator doors open, they were on the twelfth floor. This was different though, there wasn't a dark pit of nothingness, instead there was a long platform welded into the walls of the shaft, long enough for one person to lay on. He winced internally as his body thudded against the metal platform and Asher reached around him to strap him to it. His eyes widened when Renne pulled a crank and made the platform lower even deeper into the pit. He had a sick feeling in his stomach about what was coming next.

As if on cue the doors above him closed and he was left alone in the dark. Dangling over a terrifying drop. He heard a gentle swooshing sound coming from above him accompanied by small metal clanks coming periodically from either side of the wall of the shaft. Zane could catch faint glints of light on metal every time the swoosh went back and forth and immediately knew what was happening. His eyes finally focused in the darkness and he could almost completely make out the large blade swinging above him, dropping lower and lower with each swing.

The Pit and the Pendulum, he laughed internally.

 

 

~*~

 

Ty and Kelly pushed their way into a window on the fifteenth floor after a few laborious minutes of climbing. Ty immediately bolted down the hall towards Henninger's old apartment in search of Zane and let out a loud cry as he found it empty.

“Fuck! Kelly, he's not here.” Ty slammed his fist into yet another wall.

Kelly surveyed the room, taking the the sight of fresh blood, a discarded syringe, the pool of scotch.

“Ty, calm down. They were just here.” Kelly put his hand on Ty's shoulder, “We just need to figure out where they went.”

Ty's head turned towards the hallway where he heard a small thunk coming from the elevator shaft.

“Did you hear that?” Ty asked, running out of the room and back into the hallway. He was so distracted on concentrating on the sound from the elevator he didn't hear the door to the stairs open behind him.

“Ty, get down.” Kelly yelled as a bullet flew past his head.

Ty dove for cover, narrowly avoiding the next two shots.

“I'm very surprised you survived Damien.” The woman laughed.

“Too bad he didn't survive us.” Ty yelled back.

“What?” The loud voice that Ty recognized as Asher screamed.

“Your boy is back there in his room, nice big shards of glass sticking in his throat.” Ty laughed.

Asher bolted down the hallway towards his hiding place. Ty smiled and took a step back, pulling the knife out of his waistband. The big ones always fell for the bait. He cradled the knife in his hand, ready to strike the second the man rounded the corner.

Ty's hand flew out the second Asher was level with the door, driving the knife into his thick pectoral muscles, earning a scream from the man. Ty pulled the knife under his skin and back towards him, ripping it out with a satisfying squish. Ty tried his luck with another strike but Asher was ready, he grabbed him by the forearm and pulled him into the hallway, slamming him into he wall.

Ty fell to the ground as he looked down the hallway and his eyes focused when they saw Renne Nigh standing there.

“You?” Ty gasped as he rolled out of the way of Asher's foot that was flying towards him. “Where's Zane?”

“He's a little busy at the moment.” Renne laughed, “If you'll excuse me, I really don't have time for this whole conversation again.”

She raised her gun and pointed it at Ty, nearly pulling the trigger before she was interrupted by a shotgun blast from Kelly. She let out a sharp cry as the shot hit her on the side of her body. Kelly was too far away to make a kill shot with his shotgun but it still did enough damage and stopped her from firing on Ty.

Ty turned his attention back to Asher, scrambling down the hallway to take hold of his knife again.

He stood and faced the man, knife in his hand at the ready, they were about the same size and Ty calculated for a moment before Asher lunged at him. He did a quickstep to the side, barely moving out of the way in time to miss being tackled. He dropped to his knees and sent a quick swipe of the blade across the back of Asher's legs, one slash at the middle of his thigh and the next even lower as Ty fell to the ground, Asher fell to the floor, unable to move now that he'd been clipped, screaming in agony.

“Zane taught me that one.” Ty laughed, walking up behind Asher and slamming the blade in his back, fully intending to land a killing blow.

Ty looked down the hallway, staring at Kelly who's eyes were wide with fascination and adrenaline.

“Damn, Six.” Kelly mumbled.

Ty looked up and caught sight of himself in a reflection of the window. He was covered in blood from Asher and Damien after killing them both with his hands. It was so unlike him but he had to concede that McCoy was right that day in the office, he and Zane would literally do anything for each other. They were like freight trains, never stopping or sparing anyone in their way of getting to each other.

“Cuff her.” Ty said, indicating to Renne, removing the cuffs from his belt loop and throwing them towards Kelly who fastened the shackles around her unconscious body and then to the metal beam next to her.

The thinking from the elevator shaft caught his attention again, he ran to the door and let out an excited breath when he saw they weren't welded shut. The excitement faded when he saw what was behind them, a giant blade swinging back and fourth, slowly dropping down with a think every few seconds.

“How the fuck did they even rig this?” Kelly gasped from behind him.

Ty wasn't paying attention, he focused the light down below and his eyes went wide as it settled on Zane. He was strapped to a long metallic slab and not moving.

“Zane!” Ty yelled, “Say something!”

Zane didn't respond, he just looked up with hopeless eyes.

“What the fuck is wrong with him?” Kelly yelled.

The syringe flashed into Ty's mind.

“They injected him with a paralytic, he can't move.” Ty shouted. “We need to stop this thing.”

Kelly turned and sprinted back down the hallway. He better have a fucking plan.

“Ty, come help me with this!” Kelly yelled.

Ty turned and followed his voice, jumping over Renne's body in the process, and found Kelly trying to lug a giant steel beam.

“If we can wedge this in the shaft it might stop it from swinging.” Kelly huffed.

Ty nodded. It was worth a shot. They both grasped it and lifted with all their might, slowly but surely making it back down the hall with the metal rod.

“We have to time it perfectly.” Kelly yelled, “We only get one shot or else we risk dropping it on Zane.”

Ty's breath caught. This had to be perfect.

“On my count!” Kelly yelled, “On three.”

Ty closed his eyes and steadied himself.

“One...two...three!” Kelly yelled, sending the beam flying into the elevator.

They braced themselves as it caught the back swing of the pendulum, the sound of clanging metal reverberating through the shaft and sending a chill down their spines. The gears of the device screeched and groaned, trying to work their way around the obstruction.

The door at the end of the hallway flung open, revealing Clancy and Carson, who sprinted down to them past the carnage of the hallway.

“You're alive.” Ty smiled.

“A little worse for wear.” Clancy laughed, “But alive.”

“Where's Zane?” Carson asked.

“Down there.” Kelly pointed to the elevator shaft.

“I have to get down to him before it loses it's hold.” Ty yelled over the cacophony, pulling himself into the shaft and on the small ladder.

“Here.” Kelly said, pulling a long white tube out of his medical pack, “It's adrenaline, if he's been dosed with a paralytic then half a pump to this in his chest should shock it out of his system.”

“OK.” Ty nodded.

“Only half,” Kelly warned, “anymore than that will overwhelm his heart and send him into cardiac arrest.”

Ty couldn't help but laugh. If this fucking case ended with Zane having another heart attack it would just be too fucking comedic. A comedy of fucking errors.

 

~*~

 

This was the worst feeling Zane had ever felt. Completely helpless, unable to do anything except wait for himself to die. He watched as the blade swung above him, he had to wonder just how the fuck they even did it, it was absolutely insane the way it was rigged. But, he figured, if anyone could do it it would be four psychopaths on a mission.

When a beam of light spilled out above him he wasn't sure if it was real or a hallucination, the uncertainty only built up more when he saw Ty's face looking down at him from the floors above, enveloped in a white light like an angel from heaven. He tried to do something, say anything, but he couldn't.

Kelly appearing behind him made Zane realize it wasn't a dream. He loved Kelly like a brother but he was pretty sure that he wouldn't be one of the last people he dreamed about.

He watched as the long metal rod flew through the elevator, attempting to block the swinging blade from descending anymore. Had to be Kelly's idea, Zane thought, Ty would be too worked up in the moment to come up with some as ingenious as that.

Clancy and Carson soon appeared over the edge as well and Zane smiled internally at the fact that everyone was alive. If nothing else, none of his friends had died. That was a win.

Ty began his descent down the ladder and Zane tracked him with his eyes. Maybe he would make it out of here after all. The groaning from the gears above him tore his concentration away from Ty as he saw the metal rod began to shake. It wouldn't last long.

“Ty, you need to hurry the fuck up!” Clancy yelled from above him.

Zane watched as Ty looked below him, checking the distance between his position and the platform as he took a breath and released his hold, falling the twenty or so feet in an effort to make it to him faster. The unstable metal platform he was tied to creaked and shook under the impact of Ty's large frame.

“Fuck.” Ty muttered, in pain.

Zane watched as Ty's face filled his vision, a smile creeping on his husbands face.

“Hi there.” Ty smiled, “I know you can't talk. I'm gonna get you out of here.”

Ty pulled a knife from his pants and began to cut at the restraints around him, freeing his body that was still unable to move.

“This might hurt...” Ty trailed off, pulling a long white cylinder out of his pocket, “But I can't move you on my own. You're too much dead weight and it'll be a little bit of a climb. It's adrenaline. Kelly said your entire body is going to feel like it's exploding but you need to shake it off and move the second it kicks in, OK? Blink once for yes.”

Zane blinked once to the best of his ability.

“OK. Here goes.” Ty frowned, holding the long needle over his chest and then slamming it into him.

If Zane could have screamed louder than he ever had he would have. It was the most painful sensation he had ever felt and it doubled when Ty pushed the plunger on the syringe down to the halfway mark.

Zane was still for a second, nothing seemed to be happening. That moment only lasted for a brief time because soon the entire world was rushing at him, blurring around the edges as his body filled with energy and began to vibrate.

Zane let out a loud scream, echoing off the walls of the elevator shaft as his world zoomed into focus and sharp pain filled his body.

“Move! It's about to give way!” Kelly shouted from above.

Zane looked up and saw the beam folding in on itself as the gears above started to smoke and break apart. The long pole that was holding the blade began to shake violently and threatened to fall towards them.

“Come on!” Ty yelled, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him to a stand position, “It's only a short climb to the next floor.”

Ty pulled himself up the wall, moving quickly and spilling out into the hallway as Zane followed. He was moving faster than he ever felt he possibly could, he felt like an honest to god superhero. He still couldn't form words though, nothing felt organized in his brain. Moments after Zane threw himself into the hallway the blade above detached from it's contraption, falling straight down to where they had been only a few seconds before, destroying the makeshift platform and colliding violently with the ground at the bottom of the shaft.

They were alive. All of them. Zane couldn't speak, all he could muster was grabbing Ty and pulling him into a hug, pressing their bodies together and holding tight.

“You're alive.” Ty whispered.

Zane only nodded his head.

They pressed their lips together, the adrenaline filled kiss sending shivers down Zane's spine.

As Zane looked up from their embrace the world slowed and his eyes focused on Asher, bruised and covered in blood, lumbering down the hallway with a gun in his hand and at the ready. Zane reacted on the pure adrenaline flowing through his body and shoved Ty to the side of the hallway and began to run towards Asher.

Asher fired off one shot, it made direct contact with Zane's shoulder, tearing straight into it and out the other side in a through and through shot. Zane didn't feel anything. He continued racing forward as Asher fired off another round, again making contact with Zane, hitting him in the arm. Another blow that he couldn't feel. As he got closer to the man he extended a knife out of his sleeve, holding it at the ready in his hand as he lunged forward and made contact, jamming the knife into Asher's gut. He pulled the blade out, then slammed it back inside as Asher screamed in pain and dropped the gun. Zane wasn't done yet. His hands still on Asher's body, he turned and pulled the man towards the elevator shaft. He pulled his knife out of the mans gut and grabbed him by the neck, looking at him in the eyes and smiling before he pushed him backwards and into the shaft, watching as the free falling body bounced off of the walls before landing on top of the fallen blade from the pendulum, impaling him and killing him once and for all.

Zane dropped to his knees as the final bit of adrenaline burned off of him, he was starting to feel the pain radiating out from his gunshot wounds. It didn't feel all that great.

Ty was behind him, holding his body as he slumped backwards.

“What the fuck was that? Do you think you're The Terminator or something?” Ty shook his head.

Zane laughed and winced in pain.

“An ambulance is on the way, don't worry baby, you're going to be fine.” Ty smiled, holding his hand over the gunshot wound on his shoulder.

“Hey,” Zane finally groaned, “I guess I did run into the serial killers on aisle three.”

Zane let out a small laugh and then felt his consciousness slip away into darkness.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> only two chapters left after this!


	26. Chapter 26

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 26

 

Ty looked into the mirror in front of him and cringed at his reflection. He looked absolutely terrible. His eyes were sunken in and gave way to giant black bags from the lack of sleep, his hair a tangled mess, and his face was covered in several days worth of facial hair. He hadn't left the hospital once since Zane was admitted and refused to do so until he woke up, and that was four days ago. He'd spent the last four days sleeping, the word sleep being used very loosely, on a cot in Zane's hospital room listening to the drone and being of machines monitoring him day and night.

Zane had pulled through, clear of any life threatening wounds from any of the gunshots or events of the apartment building but still hadn't woken yet. The doctors claimed it was because of the mix of adrenaline and the paralytic interacting with the alcohol that was in his bloodstream, the alcohol that had been poured down his throat by Asher. So all they could do was wait for him to come out of it. The doctors assured him over and over again that there was nothing long term that would be effected by this, like brain damage, and that Zane was basically just really fucking tired. And so he'd spent the last four days in essentially the longest nap on human record. Still, Ty refused to leave.

Clancy and Carson had long since flown back home with their one surviving prisoner in tow. McCoy had called and spoken to him a few days ago, formally releasing him and Zane of any service to the FBI and thanking them for all their hard work in taking out what was, essentially, a fledgling cult. Ty had a lot of questions and concerns, namely how on earth Renne Nigh, real name Valentina Rodriguez, would ever be prosecuted. It wasn't as if they acted with the utmost regards to the finer points of law and between the five of them in that building they had killed three of the four people they were sent in after. It was the definition of excessive force. Not that Ty had many feelings of regret for taking out the people that were trying to kill them, but he figured a jury might. McCoy had assured him that neither he, Zane, Kelly, Carson, or Clancy would be brought up on any charges relating to the deaths in the building and that all of their involvements would be covered up and off record. There was more than enough evidence on Renne/Valentina to even need to involve any of them. McCoy also didn't want it to get out to the press that yet another FBI agent had been exposed as a serial killer, it would be a PR nightmare. So all of it was just going to go away, be swept under a rug and handled in dark back rooms like all the rest of the governments dirty laundry.

“Come on, Zane. Wake up.” Ty sighed, sitting back down into the chair next to the bed and opening up his book.

He was beyond anxious to get back home to their lives, to the cats that were being watched currently by Clancy, to the store.

“You need to wake up soon, our anniversary is next week, asshole.” Ty laughed to himself.

“I wouldn't want to miss that.” Zane groaned.

Ty's head shot up and towards the sound of his voice and he felt an overwhelming smile take over his face.

“Finally.” Ty said, trying to cover up his excitement.

“How long have I been out?” Zane rasped, trying to sit up before feeling the pain of his various injuries and deciding against it.

“Four days.” Ty smiled.

“Wow.” Zane whispered, “You look rough.”

“Look who's talking.” Ty laughed, standing and placing a kiss on his forehead, “Let me go grab the doctor.”

Ty turned and left the room, taking one last glance at Zane before setting out to find the doctor.

Ty was back in the room in less than a minute followed by the doctor and a third guest.

“Look who I found.” Ty smiled, pointing to his brother.

“Deuce?” Zane laughed.

“Hey. You look like shit.” Deuce smiled.

“So I've heard.” Zane huffed, turning his attention to the doctor and answering the various questions.

Ty turned to Deuce and smiled, leaning in to his little brother slightly to alleviate some of the tension he was feeling. He'd flown in yesterday and had been at the hospital every day since, trying to keep Ty from going crazy and waiting for Zane to wake up.

After the doctor left Ty sat on the edge of Zane's bed and gave Deuce the chair.

“So, I hear the guy you were cheating on me with was trying to kill you.” Deuce smiled.

“Yeah. Sorry about that.” Zane laughed weakly.

“I don't want to say I told you so...” Deuce trailed off.

“Shoulda just stuck with you.” Zane sighed, “I wont make that mistake again.”

“At least we know your dreams didn't have any underlying causes, just a psychopath dosing you with enough antibiotics to cure Ebola.” Deuce shook his head.

“I didn't even know antibiotics could give you nightmares.” Ty sighed.

“It all makes sense now, like looking back at those sessions and the questions he asked me. It was all a plot to get under my skin.” Zane frowned.

“You had your very own Hannibal Lecter.” Deuce teased.

“I've already thrown one shrink down an elevator shaft, don't think I won't do it again.” Zane rolled his eyes.

“Heard you were quite the superhero.” Deuce smiled.

“Don't really remember much.” Zane shrugged.

“I do.” Ty shook his head, “It would have been really fucking hot if I wasn't so scared. Seeing you get shot and you brushing it off like it was nothing.”

“I don't recommend having adrenaline pumped into your body.” Zane groaned.

A knock at the door caught the attention of the three of them men and Ty turned his head to see Kelly standing in the doorway.

“Look who's awake!” Kelly laughed, carrying three Starbucks cups.

“Was just about to ask where you were.” Zane smiled.

“Deuce sent me to get coffee before Ty dropped dead.” Kelly teased.

“You didn't have to stay.” Zane rasped.

“Nick's still in the bayou, didn't have anything else better to do.” Kelly shrugged.

“You make me feel so loved, Doc.” Zane laughed.

“They say how much longer they're keeping you?” Kelly asked.

“One more night for observation and if everything checks out in the morning I'll be good to go.” Zane nodded with a yawn.

“You cannot still be tired.” Ty laughed.

“A bit.” Zane frowned before drifting back off to sleep.

Ty shook his head, Zane was going to milk this for all he could.

“Now that you're awake I'll take Ty back to the hotel to shower and make himself look presentable.” Deuce laughed.

“Not leaving.” Ty insisted.

“Ty, you smell terrible. Get the hell out of here and get yourself cleaned up. I'll stay with him until you're back.” Kelly demanded.

“Fine.” Ty relented.

He stood with a frown, looking back down at Zane and placing a kiss on his forehead before following Deuce back out of the room. The more he thought about it the more a shower sounded like exactly what he needed.

 

~*~

 

“How're you feeling?” Ty said from the kitchen to Zane who was reclining on the couch in the living room.

“Same as I was feeling when you asked me that question five minutes ago.” Zane laughed.

He'd been out of the hospital and back from New York for a week and Ty had been doting on him ever since. Not that he minded, as he quickly found out that, at almost 50, he didn't recover quite as well from a gunshot wound as he did even a few years ago. Let alone two. And so for the last few days, in between running the entire store by himself, he had been Zane's personal nurse maid, sponge baths included. The idea of getting a small bell had crossed his mind a few times but he couldn't convince Ty to get him one.

“I might be up for a walk around the block a little later. I should be fine as long as I don't move my arm too much.” Zane smiled.

The most difficult part of the healing process so far had been his shoulder. While the bullet mercifully missed all the major nerves and tendons it did take a small chunk of bone with it on its way out and wasn't healing nearly as fast as the bullet wound in his arm.

“Some physical activity might do you some good, you're starting to get a little soft.” Ty teased him, poking his stomach.

“Well all the pancakes you keep making me aren't helping!” Zane laughed.

Ty carried two plates, filled with the aforementioned pancakes, over to Zane on the couch, handing one to him and keeping the other for himself.

“What's an anniversary without pancakes?” Ty raised his eyebrow.

“Did you think we'd be celebrating out second wedding anniversary with me stuck on bed rest and healing from gunshot wounds?” Zane asked.

“I mean, it's not like this situation is an odd one for us.” Ty laughed.

“I don't ever want to be in it again.” Zane frowned, setting his plate down on the table in front of them.

Ty followed suit and edged his body closer, resting his hand on Zane's thigh.

“I know.” Ty sighed.

Zane let out a long breath. He thought they left the days of them being so injured behind them after Miami but here he was, unable to even celebrate his anniversary properly because of his injuries.

“Stop thinking bad thoughts.” Ty warned, breaking his concentration.

“Not bad thoughts.” Zane clarified, “Just thoughts.”

Ty rolled his eyes and changed the subject. “So, what did you get me?”

“Excuse me?” Zane laughed.

“My anniversary present, where is it?” Ty grinned.

“I've been a little preoccupied.” Zane shook his head.

“Good. Cuz I didn't get you anything either.” Ty collapsed back onto the couch in laughter.

Zane rolled his eyes and reached back for his pancakes and took a bite, smiling at their warmth and sweetness. He immediately recognized them as his fathers recipe, the one his dad had given Ty a year ago back on the ranch. It was the first time since then that Ty'd made them for him and they tasted almost a good. Almost.

The thoughts of his father and the rest of his family gave him an idea.

“Hey,” Zane smiled, “hand me my phone, will you?”

“Sure.” Ty said, taking a break from his laughter to hop over the back of the couch to grab Zane's phone from the counter.

He unlocked it and scrolled through his contacts, selecting the correct person and pressing call, the phone rang as he put it on speakerphone.

“Long time, no talk, Zane.” The warm voice said from the other end of the phone.

“Sorry, Alice. Work has been crazy.” Zane said with a smile.

He looked up at Ty who's face held an expression of confusion.

“Alice Abernathy?” Ty whispered.

Zane responded with a nod of his head.

“Not a problem at all. I was going to call you soon anyway to see if you'd gotten cold feet or something.” Alice laughed, “Happy anniversary, by the way.”

“I” didn't expect you to remember.” Zane laughed.

“I don't think I could forget that night...” Alice trailed off, her voice growing a bit sad.

Zane shook his head and refused to let those emotions about his mother take over. This was a happy phone call.

“I'm actually calling to tell you the opposite.” Zane smiled, looking back up at Ty who's mouth was slowly beginning to open.

“Oh?” Alice hummed through the phone.

“Yeah. I'm ready for you to start making some calls for us. Ty and I are ready. We're ready for kids.” Zane smiled and winked at Ty.

Ty's eyes had gone wide with surprise and his mouth was hanging wider than he'd ever seen it before.

“I'm glad to hear it. I'll make some calls tomorrow and get back with you.” Alice said before hanging up.

Zane let the silence stand between them for a moment before Ty crawled delicately across the couch and placed a kiss on his lips.

“Thank you.” Ty said, his eyes growing misty with tears.

Zane smiled and reached his hand up to Ty's face to gently wipe away the first one that feel from his eye.

“Happy anniversary, Ty.” Zane smiled, pulling him into another kiss.

 


	27. Chapter 27

 

 

 

 

 

Epilogue

October 15th, 2016

  
  


"Happy Birthday Grandpa." Zane read the card out loud and sighed. His eyes going between the card in his hands and the asshole sitting across the table from him.

This was the fourth such card Zane had gotten today. Ty had apparently made it his mission to go out and buy every sarcastic card you could possibly buy for someone who is turning 50.

"Open it." Ty grinned. 

Zane glared at him, it was cute the first time, mildly amusing the second time, but now it was just starting to piss him off. He was already self conscious and Ty wasn't helping, it was a joke gone too far. 

"Ty." Zane sighed. 

"Open it."

Zane opened the card and groaned. 

"It's better to be over the hill than under it." He read out loud. 

Ty lost it, he collapsed into a fit of laughter at the table. Zane wasn't as amused and he was having a hard time trying to hide his emotions. Ty gave him one look and realized it. 

"You're mad?" Ty asked. 

"No Ty, you've given me four cards today calling me an old grandpa, I'm fucking elated." Zane deadpanned. 

"I might have gone a little overboard." Ty confessed, sensing the very real anger behind Zane's words.

"You think?”

"There were just so many good ones and I didn't know which one to get!" Ty tried defending himself. 

"How about a nice card that says something like 'To my loving husband on this big day, I'm glad to share it with you'?" Zane could feel himself getting more and more worked up. 

"I didn't think it would upset you this much." Ty frowned. 

"The first one was funny but you took it too far. I'm already feeling self conscious about it, about being so fucking old, about being older than you, my entire body hurts when I wake up in the morning, its harder to keep up with you and them sometimes, and all I've been reminded of today was that with these cards." Zane put his head in his hands and looked down at the table. 

"Baby, I didn't mean to-" Ty was cut off but the waiter coming back to the table to hand them the check. 

Ty smiled and paid the bill and reached out to grab Zane's hand. 

"I really didn't mean to make you this upset. I was trying to keep it light and funny." Ty frowned. 

"I know...it's just my own insecurities. Every time I look at myself in the mirror and I see all this gray hair, every time I wake up and can't get out of bed right away because my back hurts, every time whatever old bone in this body aches I wonder if you're going to get tired of me being so old at some point." Zane hadn't intended for his birthday to get this emotional but there was no stopping it now. 

"Hey, look at me. You're the most beautiful fucking person I've ever seen, the gray hair is sexy as fuck, who cares if your back hurts in the morning, who cares if you break your fucking hip, I'll be there with you no matter what. You're not going to get rid of me that easily, Garrett." Ty smiled and took Zane's hand, pulling it up to his lips and kissing it. 

"The card was kinda funny." Zane admitted. 

"I know it was." Ty laughed. "Why don't we get out of here, we can go back home and you can show me just how much that aging body of yours can do." Ty looked at Zane with a devilish lust in his eye and he could already feel himself growing harder. 

"This old dog might have a trick or two up his sleeve." Zane winked at him and got up from the table, pulling Ty behind him by the wrist. 

 

~*~ 

 

Zane pushed the door to the house open and froze in his tracks. Ty stood behind him with his hands circled around his waist, he pushed himself up on his toes to whisper in Zane's ear. 

"Happy birthday, baby." 

Zane took in the sight of the house, it was complete dark inside, only illuminated by the small tealight candles over various surfaces. A path of red orchid petals began at the front door and wound their way around the wide open house to the spiral stairs that were lined with tall white candles lighting the way to the top. 

Zane was speechless, he couldn't even move. All these years spent with Ty and he could still surprise him. 

"There's a card on the counter. Go read it." Ty whispered again. 

"So help me god if you ruin this with another card I'm burning this place down with those candles. I don't care if we just bought it." Zane laughed as he walked over to the card standing on the table. 

The front of the card was bare except for a beautiful drawing of an orchid. The inside of the card lacked a preprinted message, the only words on the otherwise white interior were all written by Ty's hand. 

 

_**Zane,** _

_**I couldn't be more proud to spend this day with you. It's such an honor to grow old with you, one that I will never take for granted. Every day I lay my eyes on you you're more beautiful than the last. The gray that is slowly overtaking the rest of your hair, the way you take a few extra seconds to jump out of bed in the morning and try to play it off as just wanting to lay with me for another minute, the way you look when you're wearing your glasses that I find so fucking sexy and concentrating on a good book, the smile and frown lines that have grown deeper and more pronounced on your face, every inch of you is beautiful and I will never stop being in awe of you.** _

 

_**Love always,** _

_**Your husband.** _

 

_**P.S. If I played it right with all the joke cards you've probably snapped at me by now which means my plan worked and you never saw this coming. Now turn around and kiss me.** _

 

Zane sat the card down, he could feel the tears welling up in his eyes, and did as it commanded. He turned and pulled Ty into a fevered kiss. One that was as tender as it was passionate. 

"I love you." Zane breathed. 

"I love you more." Ty smiled. 

"Should we find out where this path leads?" Zane asked, indicating to the trail of orchids leading up the stairs. 

"By all means." Ty held his arm out in front of Zane, letting him take the lead. 

Zane paused before taking the steps. "There's an awful lot of fire here. Where are the cats?" He laughed. 

"I had Clancy take the kids when she finished setting all this up for me. Didn't want anyone catching their tail on fire." Ty smiled. 

"Clancy set all this up?" Zane gasped in mock surprise. 

"She had a bit of help but yeah. Now let's get to the bedroom and make sure she followed the rest of the instructions." Ty grinned and lightly shoved Zane forward to get him moving up the stairs.  

"Why don't we stay down here for a few minutes?" Zane growled. 

"Everything is upstairs!" Ty protested. 

"Yeah, but we haven't gotten the chance to break in the new kitchen." Zane hummed. 

"Oh? I like the way you think, Garrett." Ty panted. 

Zane's eyes broke from Ty as he looked around the room. It was far larger of a kitchen than he'd ever expected to have. It was even in its own separate room, gone were the days of the kitchen being in the same space as the living room. He felt a small pang of sadness go through him, he'd never expected to live anywhere with Ty other than the row house and they were both adjusting to the far larger and more spacious five bedroom home they bought together. They just moved into the house two months ago and had been so busy with moving and getting everything set up he hadn't even gotten the chance to cook a proper meal in the kitchen, let alone get fucked on the counter. 

"Get the pants off then." Zane demanded after snapping out of his memories. 

"Yes sir." Ty complied, pulling off his belt and throwing it across the room. It crashed against the wall and sent an echoing thump through the large room. 

"Oops. Still getting used to the fact that I can't throw stuff into the living room." Ty blushed. 

"It's an adjustment for both of us." Zane laughed as he undid the buttons on the front of Ty's pants. 

"Are you glad we moved?" Ty asked in between kisses. 

"Yeah." Zane sighed as he felt Ty's hands slip down the back of his pants and grasp his ass. "It's weird not being able to find my way around the dark though." 

"Last night I walked into the wall trying to get to the bathroom with my eyes closed. I forgot it's on the opposite side of our room now." Ty laughed as his fingers began to tease Zane's ass. 

"Fuck." Zane's breath hitched, "I forgot the stairs were in a spiral and almost fell over the railing trying to keep going straight." 

Ty laughed against his lips as his finger slipped inside Zane and began to loosen him. 

"I forgot what room the office was last week." Ty admitted as he bit Zane's lip. 

"I accidentally locked myself in the walk in closet." Zane smiled as he undid Ty's pants and let them fall to the floor. 

Ty grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around, his cock now rubbing against Zane's ass. 

"Be right back." Ty smiled as he ran to the other room and came back with a fresh bottle of lube. 

"I get to fuck you in the dining room next." Zane growled. 

"Still can't believe we have a dining room." Ty laughed. 

Zane arched his back and circled his hips against Ty's throbbing cock, begging him to enter him. 

Ty lined himself up and began to push inside his husband as the doorbell rang to life and reverberated off the walls. 

"What the fuck?" Ty gasped. 

"Just leave it. Probably new neighbors." Zane panted. "Fuck me instead." 

Ty complied and began to push himself even further into Zane as the doorbell rang again. And again. And again. 

"That's it. I'm getting my fucking gun." Ty growled, pulling himself out of Zane and his pants back up his body. 

Zane gave out a pathetic moan as the cock slipped out of him and Ty walked away. 

"Come back!" Zane pleaded as he heard Ty stomp his way across the lengthy space between the kitchen and the double doors at the front of the large house. 

Zane sighed and pulled his pants back on and decided to join Ty, if only to make sure he didn't kill their new neighbors. In a few strides he was behind Ty who was about to open the door. 

Zane let out a defeated sigh when he saw Clancy at their doorstep. 

"What?" Ty cried. 

"I'm sorry. Big emergency. I have to go into the office. I can't keep them." Clancy frowned. 

"Leave them with Jack!" Ty exclaimed. 

"I am not leaving my boyfriend alone with...those two charming things." Clancy rubbed her forehead. 

"Do you have any idea what you just interrupted?" Ty spat. 

"Well, judging by the both of your attire..." Clancy trailed off and indicated her finger between the both of them, "I can make a pretty educated guess." 

"Where are they, Michelle?" Zane laughed. 

"In the car." Clancy said. 

"Daddy, Aunt Michelle said she doesn't love us!" The small voice of a girl called from behind Clancy. A smile crept over Zane's face. 

"I did not say that you little brat!" Clancy exclaimed, "I said I don't love you as much as I love having a job!" 

Sure." The girl said, sticking her head through the doorway before lighting up when she made eye contact with him and Ty. 

"Don't call my daughter a brat, brat!" Ty warned Clancy. 

"I swear it's like having a miniature Ty running around my house." Clancy laughed, her pleading eyes turning to Zane. 

"Isabella," Zane laughed, "where's your brother?" 

"He's still trying to get Jiminy and Cricket out of the car." Isabella rolled her eyes. 

"Alexander," Ty yelled out of the front door, "you OK out there, buddy?" 

"I'm here, I'm here!" The young boy said frantically, cradling two cats in his arms and struggling desperately to keep the glasses on his face from falling off. "Thank you for watching us, Aunt Michelle." 

"He is all you, Zane." Clancy laughed, giving both the kids a kiss on the head before turning back to her car to make it off to whatever emergency the office had called her in for. 

Zane folded his arms over his chest and looked down at the children in front of him. Their children. 

The two twins, six years old and full of energy, bounced back and fourth, the low lighting of the entry way mixing with their auburn hair and dark features. 

"I think it's well past your bedtime, you two." Zane smiled. 

"Dad!" The twins groaned in unison. 

Ty barked a laugh from the opposite side of them. 

"Daddy!" Alexander whined while turning to face Ty, "can we please stay up a little longer?" 

"I don't know, ask your father." Ty laughed and pointed his arm at Zane.

Zane rolled his eyes. Of course Ty got to be daddy, he'd hogged it almost immediately, leaving Zane with just dad. Not that he minded, every time one of the kids called him dad his heart did a backflip.

"Please dad! Please!" Alexander jumped up and down, addressing Zane. 

Zane looked down at the group people in front of him. His eyes darted between the clock on the wall, it was way past their bedtime, and the puppy dog eyes of Alexander, then Isabella, and finally Ty. He let out a defeated breath and sighed. 

"Fine. But only because it's a Saturday. And my birthday. Go upstairs and change and then come back down and we'll watch a movie." Zane smiled as the kids turned on their heels and made a line for the stairs. 

"Alex! Bella! Careful on the stairs! Watch out for the candles! And don't slip on the flowers!" Ty warned. 

"OK daddy!" The twins called to Ty in unison. 

"I guess we should go get our clothes off the floor and hide the lube." Ty whispered with a laugh, pulling his arms around Zane's torso. 

"And go change into something else." Zane sighed. 

"And go put out all the candles." Ty shook his head. 

They walked to the kitchen and collected their clothing off the floor, blowing out all the candles they passed on their way. They each took one side of the stairs when they made the ascent, blowing out the votives on either side. 

Zane couldn't contain his grin when they stepped into their bedroom. It was again covered in candles and flower petals but there was something new on the wall behind their bed. A painting of a compass and an anchor encircled in each other. 

"It's beautiful." Zane smiled, pulling Ty towards him to kiss him. "I am starting to think you're a pyromaniac with all these candles though. Anywhere else I'm gonna find them?" 

"The bathroom." Ty laughed, waving his arm to the large door on the opposite side of their room that had a warm glow coming from it. "We were supposed to take a sensual bath in the spa tub together." 

"We can always do it later when the kids are in bed." Zane winked. 

"God bless whoever designed this house and put the master bedroom as far away from both of their rooms as possible." Ty smiled. 

They blew out all the candles and changed into a more comfortable pair of pajamas. 

"What are we doing about all the flowers?" Zane laughed. 

"Leave em, I'll deal with it in the morning." Ty smiled and opened the bedroom door just in time to catch a glimpse of the twins winding down the stairs. 

They walked arm and arm down the stairs and into the living room, laughing at the sight of the kids perched on either arm of the long, brand new, couch. The new couch was a necessity with the new number of people it had to accommodate but thankfully the old one had found a new home in Zane and Ty's office where it could continue its life as a surrogate bed. 

The two men plopped down in the middle of the couch with a smile. 

"What're we watching, kiddos?" Ty laughed. 

"Dunno. Alex and I can't decided." Bella sighed. 

"We never actually started that talking animal movie..." Ty trailed off, not remembering the name of it.

"Oh! I forgot!" Alex laughed. 

"Zootopia it is." Zane smiled, pulling up Netflix and selecting the title. 

The movie began and Zane leaned into Ty who had wrapped an arm around him. His smile turned even more satisfied when he felt movement next to him and saw Alexander curled into a ball with this head resting on his knee. He looked down next to Ty and smiled as he saw Isabella in the same position on his knee. 

Ty's eyes caught Zane's and they both smiled at each other, their eyes darting between the children and each other. He couldn't believe his life in this moment, a husband, two kids, a brand new home they all shared. 

It was everything he never knew he wanted. Zane leaned his face even closer into Ty and kissed him on the cheek. Laughing as he felt Ty's lips raise in a smile. He craned his head a bit to whisper in Ty's ear. 

"I may be old but this is the best birthday I've ever had in my entire life." 

  
  
  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Twins! 
> 
> Thus concludes the second story in my series, thank you all for taking the ride with me, it's been a joy to write and the feedback has been amazing as always. I was going to wait to post it but patience is not my strong suit so I figured I'd just upload it all now.
> 
>  
> 
> ...to be continued eventually!


End file.
